Naruto: Trials of Life and Death
by Nenacu
Summary: Naruto has just returned from his training with Jiraiya and they've picked up somebody else along the way. With him comes a confidence and power that Naruto never knew he could possess. Naruhina, naruharem. More pairings as they come. M for safety. Ch6 up
1. Chapter 1: Before the Beginning

Alrighty guys and gals, this would be the first fic I've ever written, so please be kind. I'm going to put this under M for language, suggestive themes, and possibly a lemon of two. Don't know if it'll get that far, but with my mind, it could. Anywho, without further ado, I give you my Naruto Xover fan fiction. What is the other anime? You'll just have to read and see!

I do not own Naruto in any way, shape, or form. If I did, he wouldn't be such a prude. I do own my OC, not so cleverly inserted into this story however.

"Speaking"

'thinking'

**Jutsu**

"**kyuubi"**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Before the Beginning**

It was bright out that day as noted by the tow bored looking ninja who happened to be on sentry duty that day. Out on the horizon, three specs appeared to their sight, traveling down the road towards the village.

"Hey, were there any ninja scheduled to return today?" Said the guard who had noticed the travelers.

Shrugging, his friend looked down at the book that usually held that information. "Doesn't say anything about that. It could be those two though. I have no clue who the third person would be."

"Those two eh? It's been quiet in Konoha ever since they left. If he's anything like he used to be, the villagers are in for a rude awakening."

Chuckling to himself, the first man continued to watch the road as the travelers came closer.

Two tall men with long white hair were having an animated conversation with several perverted giggles between them as they discussed 'business' as they called it. The blond young man leading the group paid their conversation no mind. He had heard this kind of conversation too many times to really care anymore. Besides, he had his mind set on the home he hadn't seen for two and a half years. His bright blue eyes looked towards the village as his trademark fox grin crept onto his face, eager to see how his friends had grown in his absence.

Breaking from his conversation, the younger looking of the two older men looked ahead at the eager blond with a smile on his face. He was a tall man, about 6' even with long, straight white hair that was tied back in a low ponytail while traveling and piercing gold eyes. He carried himself in a way that almost demanded authority, yet he never seemed to want it. Dressed in a tight black muscle shirt, making his lithe athletic frame more visible, black pants with crimson cloth wrapping the bottoms so that movement was not impeded, and basic black shinobi sandals. He also wore a loose black battle coat with flaming crimson wings emblazoned on the back, a hitai-ate with the kanji for fire attached to a crimson cloth that loosely hung from his waist and, most noticeably, a long katana at his hip. The scabbard was black with crimson flames enameled onto it, the hand guard resembled two silver feathered wings curving around the hilt which was wrapped in crimson cloth. To say that he could be imposing when he felt up to it was an understatement.

"Heh, been a while since you've seen your home, eh Naruto?"

Turning around, the blond fixed his eyes on his white haired friend.

"Yeah, it has. I still can't believe that you've never heard of Konoha though. Are you sure you don't suffer from memory loss old man?"

He was cut off from saying any more as a fist collided with the top of is head.

"Damn it Naruto, just because I've got white hair, it doesn't mean I'm old. I'm only 19 for Kami's sake! Besides, shouldn't you have more respect for a teacher of yours?"

As if to answer himself, he looked to the other man in the group and hung his head in defeat while Naruto merely cleaned his ear out with his pinky while the other man roared with laughter until he was silenced by a glare from his younger friend.

As the trio approached the gate into town, they were stopped by the two guards before they could enter.

"Halt! Nobody enters the village until I get your name and your purpose here."

Taking this opportunity, the younger of the white haired men stepped forward with a charismatic smile.

"Well, what would you recognize? Sometimes I'm known as the Crimson Angel of the fire country, though most times I go by Nenacu. I don't think I want to let you know what the women call me though. However, you should recognize these two easily. Naruto and Jiraiya of Konoha have returned. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be off."

With a wave to his two friends, Nenacu hurried off into town, disappearing into the crowd.

"Huh, strange guy, but I like him. Wonder if I'll ever see him again." Naruto mused to himself

"I'm sure you will kid, that guy isn't one to disappear on a student of his. Especially when he's taught you as much as he did. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to make a report to Tsunade. Go see the town. You may run into that Hyuuga girl you've been dreaming about." With that, Jiraiya wandered off towards the hokage tower, though, by the look on his face, Naruto knew he was going to do some of his 'research' first.

Naruto shook his head and went off to see if his apartment was still in one piece. "Damnit. He could have told me I talked in my sleep a long time ago, but no, he had to go and use some of my dreams for his damn perverted books." Grumbling about how he wouldn't get credit for is great ideas, he shifted the katana on his back, also shifting his thoughts away from his newfound perverted nature.

He allowed his thoughts to slip into how he had gotten his favorite weapon with a grin.

_Flashback no Jutsu!_

Naruto was kneeling in the middle of a large crater, panting from the physical and mental exertion he had gone through that day. 'It was all worth it though,' he grinned to himself. He had finally mastered his wind element as well as finishing a jutsu that even the great yondaime hokage couldn't complete.

Both of his teachers suddenly appeared next to him and lifted him to his feet, holding his shoulders to make sure he wouldn't collapse.

"Well now, that went a hell of a lot faster than I thought it would. Looks like you aren't as slow as you look." Nenacu chuckled at his own insult and easily dodged a very weak punch from Naruto. "Woah! That's no way to treat a teacher. Here, I've got a present for you." Nenacu handed the long bundle in his other hand to Naruto once he had regained enough stamina to stand on his own. "I thought you would want a weapon to channel your elemental chakra. Besides, I can teach you how to use it and hand the rest of your training back to Jiraiya-sama"

Unwrapping the bundle from its midnight black cloth, Naruto gaped at what his teacher had given him. It was a long katana that looked as if it had been made just for him. Everything from the tip of the blade to the cap on the hilt was the same midnight black as the cloth and the blade had fine serrations. The sheath was also the same black, but had orange kanji for wind on one side and Namikaze on the other.

Confused at this, Naruto looked up at his teacher. "Um, Nenacu-sensei, my last name is Uzumaki. You should know that by now..."

Nenacu shook his head in mock despair, though there was a glint of a smile behind his golden eyes. "And here I thought you'd be proud to take on your father's name, seeing as you just finished something he couldn't."

Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly before widening in sudden realization. "Nani!? You mean that the Fourth was my father? Did you know him?" After several more questions like this, he finally began to calm down.

Nenacu merely chuckled and looked at Jiraiya. "No, I didn't know the man personally, but you could ask Jiraiya-sama about him. He did teach him after all."

_Flashback no Jutsu Kai!_

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted as he saw a pair of pale lavender eyes out of the corner of his eye before they disappeared behind a wall. 'So, she still does that eh? Well, time to help her get over it.' With a smirk, he reached into one of his kunai pouches, retrieving a three pronged kunai. He lobbed it into the underside of a branch that was hanging over the place where the eyes had vanished and made the necessary seals. "Hiraishin no Jutsu!"

The lavender haired girl had been thinking about a way to approach the man of her dreams, but she couldn't even bring herself to step out from behind the wall. She didn't notice until shortly after that she was staring right into a pair of flaming azure eyes at which she promptly fainted.

Naruto suppressed a chuckle as he yanked the kunai from the tree, placing it back into his pouch, before dropping down to the ground, kneeling, and pulling the fainted girl into his arms.

When she came around, she found herself staring into those same eyes yet again. With a small eep, she pulled herself out of his arms and stood up, bowing apologetically. "I..i..i'm so sorry s..sir. Y..you reminded me o..of somebody else.." At a loss for any more words, she suddenly found the ground by her feet terribly interesting.

Naruto stood up, brushing dust off of his cloths before looking at the girl. "Well Hinata-chan. You certainly grew up while I was away. I really like your hair. How long have you been growing it out?"

Hinata looked up suddenly when she recognized the voice and saw that she hadn't been mistaken. It was indeed Naruto. 'Oh Kami-sama! He's so handsome! I thought it was him, but I wasn't sure at first. He's changed so much.'

Indeed he had changed. Naruto had grown quite a bit and his musculature was much more defined. He had also changed his outfit due to the teasing of his two mentors and now chose to wear a black cargo jacket, similar to the design of the chuunin jackets and black cargo pants. He still wore the open toed sandals, but had changed that color to black as well. His hitai-ate was now fastened to a long black band which he still wore proudly on his forehead and he now had a black hakama that had gold flames at the hems as well as the kanji for wind displayed between his shoulders. On his shoulders were black leather pauldrons and on his hands were long black fingerless gloves that were plated with heavy metal from his elbows to his knuckles and studded there with an even heavier black alloy. Over all that, he wore a long black katana held to his body by a black cloth that had been twisted into a cord. He had also adopted a hairstyle similar to that of Jiraiya.

Naruto smiled as he looked his friend over, nearly drooling at what he knew her body must look like under all of the baggy cloths she wore. "Thought I was somebody else eh? Understandable. You're still as beautiful as ever though Hinata-hime. It's good to know that the years have been kind to you." He took Hinata's hand and lightly kissed the back of it, looking up to see her face as red as it could be.

Hinata couldn't tell what she should think. Here he was after three long years and she still couldn't say anything to him. He frustration was made even worse when he kissed the back of her hand. "A.. Arigato Naruto-kun. It's nice to s.. see you again," was all the poor girl could stammer out.

Naruto, noticing her discomfort, let her hand go, scratching the back of his head with a smile on his face. "So, I know it's sudden, but since I just got back, I've been wanting to see the town. I've got to go see granny Tsunade first, but I was wondering if you'd like to take a walk with me afterwards and perhaps get something to eat?"

Hinata was in heaven. Never had she thought that she would hear Naruto speak to her like that. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she would squeal, so she used all of her restraint to simply nod an affirmative.

Nodding, after getting his answer, the blond turned around. "Well, I really do have to go. How about I catch you at your place and well go from there? Ja ne." Without waiting for her answer, Naruto formed a hand seal and seemed to disappear in a bright yellow flash, leaving Hinata to faint once again from pure excitement.

As he made his way along the rooftops of the village towards the hokage tower, Naruto grinned to himself. 'Well, that went pretty good. I didn't think I'd see her right off. I can't believe that I didn't really notice her for so long.' **"That's because you were dumb then kit. Just be glad that you had me to teach you how to be an adult. Though I'll admit that listening to those other two did wonders for getting rid of that annoying childlike attitude of yours" **'Man, will you give it a rest? Yes, I was dumb. Those two only turned me into a pervert, though I must say that it was worth it.'

Shaking his head to clear several risque thoughts, he landed on the roof of the tower, noticing his cyclopean teacher, Kakashi, leaning against the wall next to the window he had planned on entering. Of course, Kakashi still had his nose buried deep into his book of smut as usual. Grinning, Naruto tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention, passing him two fairly thick books with a grin before slipping through the window.

"Oy, Tsunade-baa-chan, I'm back." Ducking under what he thought would be a fierce punch at the use of her affectionate nickname, Naruto was surprised to find his hitai-ate lifted up and Tsunade's lips pressed against his forehead.

"Good to have you back brat. Jiraiya just got done telling me what the two of you have been up to. If you see this Nenacu again, would you try to get him to come see me? I'd like to know how he got you to the level you are personally. That reminds me. You're to go through a test tomorrow to see how far you've improved. Kakashi will be the one testing you. Based on the results, I'll determine whether you become a chuunin or a jounin. Until then, you're free to go."

Naruto nodded and jumped through the window he had entered in while the three people in the room watched him leave.

"Well Jiraiya, how strong has my student really become?" Kakashi turned to his idol, his visible eyebrow quirking as the question was asked.

"To tell you the truth, I'm not even sure. By what I've seen, he should be able to take out any of the lower Akautski by himself, but the last time I really watched him was before he and the kyuubi began to train together. They've even managed to merge their chakras so that Naruto no longer has any ill effects from the kyuubi. The kid's basically been training himself for the past year."

The eyes of the other two bulged in surprise at the answer. "What!? What do you mean merge their chakras? Is that even possible?" Tsunade slumped back into her chair, reaching for a bottle of sake.

Jiraiya merely shrugged. He had seen Naruto do too many amazing things on their training mission to be too surprised. "Well, it is that kid right? If anybody could have done something like that, it'd be the son of Minato."

Kakashi, who was watching the conversation of the sannin like a tennis match whipped his gaze towards Jiraiya at the mention of his sensei. "Wait.. are you saying that Naruto is Minato-sensei's son? I was told that he had died during childbirth!"

Nodding, the white haired hermit confirmed Kakashi's question. "Yes, he's Minato's brat. We told that lie to protect him from his father's enemies until he was strong enough to protect himself. Nenacu and I told him after he finished combining elemental chakra to the rasengan, so don't worry about keeping it a secret from him. He'd have changed his last name by now if we and kyuubi hadn't convinced him that it would be a bad idea."

The three looked back out the window, small smiles playing on each of their faces. "I'll have to tell him about his clan laws soon. I wonder how he'll deal with the polygamy clause." Tsunade mused with a hint of laughter in her voice.

Naruto was once again speeding along the Konoha rooftops, eager to find his apartment. He had hope that nothing of his had been stolen or broken during his long absence and was pleased to see that the only thing amiss was the thick layer of dust coating everything in the room. Placing his hands in the familiar cross seal, he summoned several kage bunshin to do the cleanup work while he went out to find Hinata.

The first place he decided to go was the flower shop run by Ino's family. There he found a nice smelling bouquet made of white petal roses and lavender flowers. He thought he heard Ino herself talking to Sakura in the back room but paid it no mind and paid for the flowers.

He made his way to the Hyuuga compound, arriving exactly when he meant to, and knocked on the door. He was immediately met with the sight of Hinata in a sky blue kimono embroidered with gold flowers that accentuated the figure she normally kept hidden away from the world. Her lovely long dark blue hair was pulled back with a pair of chopsticks to hold it in place. She hadn't worn any makeup which Naruto appreciated. He preferred the natural beauty that women held to the superficial ideal of most men.

Naruto held the flowers in his hand out to her. "Hello again Hinata-hime. I thought you would like these." He smiled at her gently, being careful to be ready to catch her should she faint.

Hinata took the boquet and inhaled the sweet aroma of the flowers with her eyes closed. "They are wonderful Naruto-kun. J.. just a second please." Disappearing into the house to put the flowers into the vase in her room, she also tried to calm her racing heart. She couldn't believe that she was really going to be with Naruto. She returned a little while later to find Naruto standing patiently in front of the door.

"Ready to go Hinata?" Naruto smile at her, offering his arm. Hinata looped her arm around his and in this way they set off on their walk, arriving at the top of the hokage monument just as sunset began.

Naruto smiled as he gazed at the sight he had come to watch several times in his youth and turned his head to look at Hinata who was also watching the scene with no small amount of wonder. They were looking down on Konoha and as the sun set, the town began to glow as if it were surrounded by a golden flame.

"This is partly why I want to become the strongest. I want to protect this beautiful town and all of my loved ones with all that I am." Naruto turned away from the sight as the sun dipped past the horizon and felt his clones disperse, smiling at the image that was relayed back to him.

Hinata felt her resolve to become stronger grow by leaps and bounds while observing Konoha by sunset and with a small spark of courage, she permanently forced her stutter back. "Naruto-kun, it's beautiful. I'm glad that you are showing me things like this. Things that are dear to you."

Noticing her lack of timidity, Naruto turned, giving her his trademark fox grin. "I'm glad you like it that much Hinata-hime. Now, let's go get some food. I know the perfect place."

Hinata nodded and took his arm again, letting him lead her away into the night. As the two passed through Konoha, they received many different kinds of looks, but mainly from people who were glad to see the two talking and laughing without a care in the world. When they finally made it to his apartment, Naruto opened the door and led Hinata into the dining area where they sat and ate the food prepared by Naruto's clones.

Meanwhile, Nenacu stood on top of a telephone pole with a strange device held to his cheek. He was having a conversation with the person on the other side. "Hai Genryuusa-taicho. The kid is doing just fine. Tell Minato that as well please. By the looks of it, he should manifest in a few years unless a catalyst sets him off before then. Hai, I'll report to HQ in a few days, I've got a few loose ends to tie up here."

Closing the device, he takes a look around and sees a kunoichi with long blond hair, blue eyes, generous bust, and a purple outfit that showed the entire package off nicely. He smiles to himself and hops down from his perch to introduce himself.

"Evening m'lady. I am Nenacu. I know this may seem sudden to you, but would you like to find something to eat? Perhaps take a walk or catch a late movie?" He took her hand gently and kissed the back of it, locking his gold eyes onto her bright blue ones.

Ino was so flattered at this that all she could say was a stammered "Yes."

* * *

Haha! Cannon character with an OC! I am prepared for your flames! grabs a fire hose Aaanyway, if you haven't figured out what this is a crossover into, then you need to go and study your anime. Shoo. For those still around, I was thinking of doing a naruharem. A small one. The only stipulations are these. Dead characters are dead, Ino is already taken, and Hinata is the start of the harem. Let me know your thoughts R&R! Otherwise, I'll just keep writing however I want. Oh, and before you complain about the OC. Let's be fair. This is my first fic, and my muse and namesake wanted in. He stays. Next chapter has potential fluffyness. Until next time dear readers!


	2. Chapter 2: Results and Sunagakure

Hello all those out there in readerland, Nenacu here for the second chapter of my first fic. Naruto: Trials of life and death. Now for some review replies. I'd also like to thank my first reviewers. 'sniff' you make me so very happy.

Also! Harem is almost definite, but the girls are still up for vote.

Ireadonly-It seems that way eh? Keep in mind that there's still the mission to Suna, so they'll have precious little time to see each other. It will not be a super fast relationship like other fics. He's also just trying to help her gain confidence at this point.

Silver Warrior-If the name seems inappropriate for the ninja world, that's because it is. However, if it's just a bad name in general, I'm sorry. I'm not going to go changing it, because Nenacu is a character in an actual book idea I have. He's just changed up a bit here.

Lonewolfbloodstorm-Me too. Read on my friend and you will see his response.

I still do not own Naruto. I don't own Bleach either. If I did, the two main characters wouldn't be so damn oblivious to the feelings of the women around them. I do own my OC though, so no stealing.

Now, without further ado, I present chapter two.

"talking"

'thinking'

**jutsu**

**"kyuubi"**

* * *

**Chapter two: Results and Sunagakure**

'agh.. bright.. Wait, bright? Time to get up..' Naruto propped himself up in bed and looked around, Images of his activities last night running through his head. He and Hinata had a nice dinner and he had walked her back home, leaving with a wave. She had opened up to him during dinner, losing all traces of her stutter.

He cleared his thoughts by shaking his head and geared up as if her were going on a mission. A shinobi could never be too careful. Satisfied that all of his weaponry was strapped tight and that his concealed weapons were accessible with a split second movement, he leaped out of his window, his hakama flowing behind him.

Meanwhile, Sakura and Ino were walking together through the streets of Konoha towards the old team 7 training grounds. Sakura had been told to meet Kakashi there, but hadn't been given a reason. On her way, she had met with Ino who began talking about her spontaneous date with the white haired man.

"So then he walked me home, kissed my hand again and walked away! He must have been teasing me. But he was such a gentleman. I wonder if I'll see him again." Her eyes sparkled at the thought of meeting Nenacu again.

Sakura only huffed, crossing her arms. "You're so fickle Ino. What happened to liking Sauske?"

"As if you're one to talk forehead girl. You're the one who dropped that traitor for Naruto. You haven't even seen him these past three years! Who knows, he could come back disfigured after that training mission and then you'd be stuck with a freak. And who is that!?" Ino was ripped from her thoughts as she saw a blond figure sitting on the middle of the three stumps, idly whittling away at a section of a small log with his kunai.

Sakura, however, immediately recognized the blond hair and blue eyes, though the hair was much longer than before. "Naruto-kun! It's Naruto!" Sakura broke from her conversation to run towards Naruto who had heard her and turned his attention towards the two girls with his fox grin.

Inside of Ino's head there was a small chalk drawn figure of the same shape as the girl hopping up and down while drooling. 'I take back the disfigured comment! I take it back I say!'

Sakura was now standing in front of Naruto, smiling while measuring up the changes that had been made to those she thought would happen. She decided that this was much better than what she had pictured.

"Ah! Sakura-chan! Good to see you again! How have you been? Sorry I didn't write while I was gone. Ero-sennin wouldn't let me, seeing as it would give our position away." Naruto took his regular pose of scratching the back of his neck after he finished speaking.

"It's alright Naruto, I understand. Not even Tsunade-sensei knew where you were at any given time. I'm just glad you're back safe and sound. But hey, Naruto?" At this point, Naruto nodded to show that he was paying attention. "Do you think I've grown any? Become more womanly?"

Naruto took an appraising look at his pink haired friend and nodded, smiling. He was paying particular attention to her 'assets' and her long, smooth legs. "Of course you have Sakura. If possible, you're even more beautiful than before. You've also filled out nicely in just the right places."

Kakashi showed up just as Sakura was about to stammer a reply, saving her from the embarrassment of replying to the compliment.

"Yo kids, well, I guess it's adults now isn't it? This will be the test." Not waisting any time, Kakashi pulled two silver bells from his pocket. "I'm sure you both remember this well enough. Get the bells by any means." As he spoke, he lifted the hitai-ate covering his left eye, revealing the triple tomoedred eye known as the sharingan.

Naruto hopped off of the log with an excited smirk. He had been hoping to test himself against Kakashi at least once more, and here was his chance. He dropped into a low taijutsu stance, placing his right hand on the hilt of his katana. "Looks like you're going to take this seriously now huh? You'd better be careful sensei, my Zantetsu is nothing to sneeze at." Drawing the blade, he channeled his wind chakra through the blade until the normally black serrated edge glowed an eerie white.

"Zantetsu? As in a steel cutting blade? I see, you've mastered the wind element. As always Naruto, you've surprised me." Kakashi dropped into his stance as Sakura pulled her battle gloves on, sending her chakra into her muscles to enhance her strength.

Naruto made the first move, swinging his blade in a wide arc that clove the stump beside him cleanly in two before rushing at his teacher, dulling his chakra so that any direct hits wouldn't be lethal. 'I could just use hiraishin, but that wouldn't be any fun. Let's see if you've gotten better sensei!'

Kakashi rolled under the swing of Naruto's sword only to find himself staring into collapsing ground, caused by Sakura's monstrous punch to the ground. He turned his roll into a quick handspring, avoiding yet another potentially deadly slash from Naruto.

Sakura ducked next to her blond comrade and held a whispered conference, making sure her lips weren't moving in any way that Kakashi, with his sharingan, could interpret. "I don't know quite how strong you are Naruto, but I'm sure you know that this drill is still all about teamwork. You have any plans?"

Naruto quickly went over multiple situations in his head, kyuubi throwing out those what were simply useless, until he came up with one that had the greatest possibility of working. "Yeah, listen to this.." Naruto relayed his entire plan to Sakura and she giggled at one of the more clever parts of it. "So, you think you can pull it off?" Sakura nodded, pulling her gloves tight. "Absolutely, let's go."

Sakura leaped high into the air, coming down on the ground in front of Kakashi with an ax kick that shattered the ground below the two. As Kakashi jumped back to avoid the attack, he found himself caught in a wire trap that was set up by Naruto's clones that he had created with a concealed one handed sign while he had been busy trying to figure out what they were plotting. However, he slipped out of the trap just before it closed on him and saw Naruto in front of him. Naruto had his left hand splayed out with five tiny rasengan orbs hovering above each fingertip.

Wile Kakashi was distracted by the sight of the Rasengan variant, Sakura got behind him and kicked him in Naruto's direction as Naruto jumped forward, making his attack as obvious as possible while yelling. "At the end of Icha Icha Justice!" Kakashi was startled to hear Naruto talking about the other book that he hadn't even had time to open yet and covered his ears, only to realize that he could still read Naruto's lips. "The main character..." Kakashi was torn between the desire to win the fight and the desire to keep the end of his book a secret. After a split second decision, the latter won out and he closed his eyes, opening them after he was sure he should have been attacked to find Naruto and Sakura standing before him with the bells, Sakura had her tongue sticking out cutely.

"Gotcha sensei! Always remember your opponents weaknesses and exploit them whenever possible." Naruto chuckled as he rang the small bell in his hand. "Before you ask how I know the ending to that book, take a look at the author's name." He whispered that last part and brought his index finger to his lips, wanting to keep his writing a secret.

Kakashi stood, brushing the dust off of his uniform as Tsunade and her ever present assistant Shizune appeared from behind a stand of trees, applauding. "Hmm, Naruto, you took it easy on Kakashi to give Sakura a chance to act didn't you?" Tsunade turned her eyes to look at the boy in question who was currently scratching the back of his head.

"Ah, yeah.. I really could have taken the bells beforehand, but I wanted to see what Sakura-chan had learned. I must say, I'm impressed." Naruto turned his fox grin on Sakura whose cheeks tinged a light shade of pink at the compliment.

"Naruto, just how much did you learn while you were gone? I'd never seen that variant of the rasengan, even from the original maker." Kakashi was looking at Naruto while rummaging in his bag to pull out the book Naruto had mentioned during their match. He cracked the cover open to see who the author was. Sure enough, Uzumaki Naruto was printed there. Grinning behind his mask, Kakashi could honestly say he couldn't be any more proud of his student at that moment.

Naruto had just sheathed his sword when the question was shot at him. "Well, I call it the go rasengan. It's designed to create crippling wounds instead of being a killing blow. That way interrogation is possible. I have other variants as well, but I'll keep those for a surprise just in case I have to end up fighting any of you again."

"Well, since I've seen your capabilities, I'm going to bully the council into promoting you to jounin status Naruto. After a few missions, we'll begin sending you out at the lead of other teams. You have the rest of the day off, use it as you like. Report in for missions at the usual time." With that, Tsunade went on her way, Shizune following just in case her teacher decided to make a sake stop.

Naruto looked up at the sky to judge the time of day before turning to his pink haired teammate. "Hey Sakura, it's still a while before it gets dark. How about we go to Ichiraku's and catch up on the last three years? The last thing we need is for our teamwork to get rusty."

At a nod from Sakura, the pair set off for Naruto's favorite ramen stand. The blond could smell the place before he even saw it and was practically drooling at the thought of Ichiraku ramen. He had enough in his wallet from the sales of his own book that he would be able to gorge himself and pay for Sakura without worrying about the cost. In fact, he could probably buy himself a small house and still live comfortably.

Shaking these thoughts aside, he saw that the benches of the ramen stand were full save for two seats and that everybody there seemed.. vaguely familiar. Coming to a sudden realization, his face broke into a wide grin and he ran towards the group of people he now noticed as his friends. He stopped suddenly and composed himself before parting the curtains and sitting on one of the free benches. "Heya guys. Been a while eh?"

Populating that tiny ramen shop was the group of people formerly known as the rookie 9 and team Gai, minus the traitor Uchiha of course. Ino and Hinata, who had seen Naruto earlier, merely smiled as the others greeted their friend in their own ways.

"Yo man, looks like you grew. Bet I could take you down now though." Came the rough, playful response of Kiba as he scratched behind the ear of the giant dog that once was the tiny Akamaru. Shino and Neji merely nodded towards him respectfully. Their quiet, reserved natures hadn't changed too much while he was gone. Choji raised his bowl of ramen as if to toast his friend before returning to his food with gusto. Tenten blushed at his changed appearance quite like his other female friends and Ayame, the owner's daughter, were. Shikamaru lifted his head from the counter and blinked at Naruto before waving and putting his head back down, muttering about something being troublesome. Lee, never one to be silent in the past, hadn't changed at all. "Yosh! My most youthful rival has returned from his training! I feel that I must challenge you to running 300 laps around Konoha so that I may see how your flames of youth have grown! Youth!"

Naruto shook his head at the volume his bushy browed friend seemed to use constantly as well as the constant talk of youth. "Oi, old man, how's business been with your best customer away? Oh, and I'll have my usual."

The owner laughed at his favorite customer's usual energy. "Well, these guys have been coming in almost every day since you left. Something about keeping us in business until you got back. We've been doing a lot better than before you left actually. I expect we'll be rolling in money now that you're back."

Naruto scratched the tip of his nose, grinning. "Yeah, you'd better believe it. I haven't had any good ramen since I left. I'm going to be here every day!" Chuckling, he took another good look at his friends, who were talking with each other happily. "So guys, it's almost like you knew I'd be here, what's up?"

Shikamaru lifted his head from the counter and looked at Naruto. "Ino was with Sakura before your test with Kakashi-sensei. She gathered us all here to wait for you. It was predictable that you would come here anyway."

Naruto grinned at his own predictability and dug into his food as soon as the bowl hit the counter, talking about as much of his training as he could to his friends who were all extremely curious about what he learned while travelling with one of Konoha's strongest ninja.

A few hours and twelve bowls of ramen later, Naruto left Ichiraku for home, wanting to compile some of his research into a couple of chapters for his next book.

The next two weeks passed quickly. Naruto was given his jounin status and began to run missions at the head of teams that always seemed to contain Hinata, Sakura, and Tenten. He was sure that Tsunade was setting it up like that, but he wasn't complaining. He had even taken charge of Konohamoru's team for a couple of days, teaching the younger ninja the art of tree walking.

One warm day, Naruto began to feel uneasy, as if somebody close to him was in trouble. His worst fears were confirmed when Tsunade called Kakashi, Sakura, and himself in for an emergency mission.

"It seems that the Kazekage of Sunagakure has been kidnapped. As allies to Suna, it is our job to lend assistance. That is why I'm sending you three to take care of this. Speed is vital to this mission. It seems that the group known as Akautski has taken him."

Naruto's face turned pale as his fists clenched, drawing blood as his nails pierced the flesh of his palm. The only reason that group would take somebody was if they were like them. He hadn't known that Gaara had become the kazekage, but it didn't matter. His friend was in trouble. "Tsunade-baa-chan, if that's the case then we need to leave immediately. I'm already packed for such a mission. Habit from my training. Allow me to take the lead and have these two follow behind. Also, I request the assistance of team Gai, just in case the situation gets any more ugly than it already is."

At Tsunade's nod, Naruto turned to his companions. "I'm going to speed ahead to Suna. I know the way. Temari should be in Konoha currently. You need to notify her of the situation and get team Gai ready as fast as possible. Temari will lead you. I'll gather information until you catch up." When his team nodded and sped away, Naruto did the same, patting the scroll at his chest to reassure himself that he had his supplies. After speeding far enough away from town, Naruto allowed his true chakra to surface, his azure blue eyes gaining slitted pupils and the marks on his cheeks widening as he formed a single hand seal, concentrating on the seal he had placed in an abandoned house while traveling with Jiraiya. "**Hiraishin no jutsu!**" Suddenly, Naruto was gone.

The rest of team Kakashi along with team Gai and Temari were blurs as they streaked through the trees towards the far off desert at full speed, Temari leading them on. They had only left a few minutes after Naruto, yet Kakashi had a sneaking feeling that Minato's son had learned his other trick. If that was the case, and the boy was as well prepared as he thought, then he was already in Suna. As if to confirm his thoughts, he saw a spot on the ground that seemed to have been ripped apart recently from Naruto's overzealous hiraishin.

Naruto had calmed himself before leaving the abandoned house he had appeared in, suppressing his chakra once more by forcing his now golden chakra under the surface and temporarily deactivating the gravity seal he had placed on his chest. "Alright, got to see what I can find out. Hold on Gaara, I'm not going to let my family down." He eventually found a half conceous Kankuro and got the name Sasori just before his friend passed out once again from the poison courcing through his veins.

Following the name, he found his way to the doorstop of the elder Chiyo and her brother. He stepped in quietly and found the two sitting by a small pond, Chiyo had a fishing pole in her hands and looked to be sleeping. As he drew closer, he noticed that she was just pretending, probably to avoid contact with anybody but her brother. "Elder Chiyo, I've come to request your help in finding Gaara."

The old woman turned her head to look at Naruto and huffed. "And why should I help a Konoha brat like you? I have nothing to do with this village any more. Just go away and leave a tired old woman alone."

Naruto shook his head. "I apologise elder, but you're the only person who can help us in this situation. A puppet user friend of mine has been heavily poisoned and your help is also requested in that matter. The name of the person who used this poison was Sasori. Does that ring any bells?"

A look of shock crossed Chiyo's face at the name of her grandson. 'Is it really him? If that's the case, than I really do need to help..' "All right brat, show me to this kid. I'll see if I can neutralize this poison.

The rest of the team found their way to the gates of Suna to find Naruto leaning by the entrance, a decidedly troubled look on his face. Upon seeing his comrades, he called them over. "I'm glad to see you all made it without incident. Sakura, you are needed at the hospital. Kankuro has been poisoned, and they can't figure the cure out. Apparently it's some new kind of poison altogether. I will stay here with Sakura. The rest of you, If you are able at this point, should attempt to track Akautski down." He handed a small, folded cloth square to Kakashi. "When you find the place, unfold this and place it on the ground." Kakashi and team Gai nodded and sped off, Kakashi summoning a few of his ninja dogs to aid in their search while Naruto, Sakura, and Temari went back to the hospital.

Several hours later, a cure was ingeniously devised by Sakura and Kankuro regained conciousness. Sakura also prepared three injections of the antidote just in case. Chiyo was becoming more and more impressed with the passion these younger ninja were putting into saving their friend. She would never admit it, but something was changing inside of her.

Suddenly, Naruto felt a mental ping as Kakashi placed the cloth on the ground and unfolded it, revealing a seal that was all to familiar to him. He turned to Sakura with a grin. "They've found the place they're keeping him. Hold onto my shoulder and we'll catch up." Confused, Sakura did as she was instructed. Naruto was about to activate his jutsu when he felt another hand on his other shoulder. It was Chiyo.

"If this really is my grandson, I want to help deal with this. Got a problem with that?" Naruto smiled at the old woman and shook his head. "Not a one. Hold on tight, because here we go! **Hiraishin no jutsu!**"

Just seconds after Kakashi had set the seal, Naruto appeared in a flash with Chiyo and Sakura. He immediately turned to Kakashi, his face a mask of seriousness. "What's the situation here? It looks like this is a sealed area."

Getting over his sudden appearance, the rest of the group began to explain the situation and the nature of the seal to him. He nodded and tilted his head in thought. "Alright, Team Gai, take out the other parts of the seal. We'll take care of things here."

With a nod of understanding, the group split off to take out their parts of the seal, using Neji's byakugan eyes and the radio transmitters on their necks to coordenate their movements. Once everything was in place, all five parts of the seal were lifted as one and Sakura smashed the boulder covering the entrance with one punch, revealing a sight that Naruto never wanted to see. There was Gaara, prone on the floor with a blond man and one who looked like he had a hunched back. The blond man was sitting on Gaara's chest and Naruto saw that Gaara wasn't struggling for breath. In fact he wasn't even breathing. They were too late, and Gaara was dead.

* * *

Well, there's a cliffhanger for you. Now how am I going to do this? Don't worry, I have it all planned out. I just thought that this would be a good place to stop. It's still a wee bit short to my eyes, but hey, if it's a comfortable spot to stop, there's not much more you can do. Just be glad, I wrote this all in pretty much one day.

So, like I said above, the harem isn't completely planned out yet, but it's definitely in. You, the readers, have the power to choose, but I do have the final say in who gets in. Author's privilege and all. Look forward to the real start of the crossover in the next chapter. Until then my friends, please R&R, your reviews feed me.


	3. Chapter 3: An Awakening of the Soul

Well, funny story about this.. well.. story. First off, I was up all night playing D&D with a few friends of mine. Yes, I'm a nerd, but you're reading my fic, you must be one yourself, even if you don't want to admit it. I got back in around 7:30 this morning and realized that I had to help repaint my church's parking lot. When I got home, I was physically and mentally exhausted, so I hopped in bed and promptly fell asleep. I think my muse took my dreams over, because I watched this entire chapter in my dream, knew it would fit, and promptly began to type it all up. Now onto the names of who is and isn't in the harem so far.

Sakura-not in. Sorry Sakura fans, but her adoration for our blond hero is going to simmer down into a family type of love instead of being lovers. Besides, in my story Sasgay may not be such an asshole.

Ayame-I just love how the girl is a clean slate. I can give her just the right personality. Definitely in.

Yugito-A strong, willful match for Naruto? Heh, he needs somebody who won't just melt into his arms. She's in.

Hinata-I would never ignore the most beautiful Naruto pairing ever. The two are meant for each other.

There are still a few slots open for Naruto characters, and I'm accepting Bleach characters into the harem as well. I will tell you this though, Orihime is for Ichigo alone!

Well, that was a long A/N. See you at the bottom for more. Say it Nenacu!

'sigh' "The author of this story does not own Naruto or Bleach. He does own me however, so please, do not steal me."

Good boy.

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**Chapter 3: An awakening of the Soul.**

Naruto felt the blood run cold in his veins as his eyes locked onto the two ninja he had marked as Gaara's killers. Gone was the mercy and deep emotions they once held, replaced by a slitted, hard gaze, a look that sent a chill of fear down the spines of the two powerful ninja. His eyes contained something they had never seen before, a righteous golden flame that promised death.

"Everybody, stand back." Naruto's voice had dropped an octive in his rage. The pitch frightened even his friends who all took his advice by taking several leaps away. Too fast for most eyes to see, Naruto whipped a kunai at the figure sitting on the body of his dead 'brother'. He wasn't at all surprised when the blond man snatched the deadly blade out of the air. In fact, he had wanted it to happen. He poured his chakra into the heavy knuckles of his gloves while blurring through a set of one handed seals before vanishing completely.

The other two ninja couldn't react fast enough. As soon as the blond caught the curious three pronged kunai, he was thrown further into the cave by a vicious kick while the other seemed to shatter from the chakra enhanced punch. (A/N more like the Choji punch than the Sakura/Tsunade style.)

Naruto retrieved his kunai from the ground where it had dropped as the golden glow around his body diminished slightly. He lifted the body of his fallen friend onto his shoulder and turned to leav

e. He was too taken by his grief, however, to notice the large clay bird that tore Gaara's body from his grasp until it was too late. Riding on the back of the bird was the blond, clutching his side where several ribs had snapped from Naruto's previous assault.

"Sasori-sama, I'll leave the rest to you. Let me take care of the other jinchuuriki." To answer him, a boyish figure emerged from the shattered remains of what had been a puppet. "Greedy as always. Just don't keep me waiting Deidara"

Naruto turned to give chase to Deidara, almost without thought. Hoping that, if he could get his body, somehow Gaara would come back. He passed his team with a flash of speed that seemed almost impossible.

Kakashi, knowing that Naruto wasn't in full control of himself, gave chase. He was the only one with the speed to keep up. What he saw when he caught up was hard to believe. Instead of the red fox cloak that he had been warned about by Jiraiya, Naruto was encased in a thin layer of swirling blue and red chakra. His body seemed to be absorbing the chakra almost as fast as it was expelled, strengthening his muscles exponentially.

"**Kit! Calm down! You've got to keep yourself in check." **Naruto blinked and was standing in front of Kyuubi's cage. The seal on the bars was near completely torn off. "I know kyuubi. I don't know that I can handle this though. He was barely fazed by an attack that should have killed him outright." Kyuubi chuckled darkly, turning his gaze down onto Naruto. **"Kit, I think it's time to finish our merger. Tear the rest of the seal off now and our very souls will merge and all of my limitless chakra will be yours. There will be changes to your body as well, but you'll learn those as you go." **Naruto nodded, knowing that there were no ulterior motives behind this request, and ripped the last of the seal from the bars.

Kakashi's eyes widened as he saw the physical effect of the merge as kyuubi burst free from his cage, merging perfectly with Naruto's soul. The chakra surrounding Naruto twisted together suddenly, changing color to a burning gold.

* * *

In a dark room elsewhere, illuminated only by several glowing screens, a loud alarm broke the silence, sending several black clothed people into a busy frenzy of work, notifying their captain of the alarm. That white and black faced captain then grudgingly notified his own bald, long bearded superior, moaning about the loss of a good 'research subject'.

This man, in turn, notified two people of this alarm and the ramifications along with a mission for one of them. One of these men was a tall, charismatic spiky haired blond. He carried a katana at his hip that was all black save for the golden Konoha symbol that served as the hand guard. He wore a white hakama above the black uniform that had a rhombus with the kanji for 9 on the back. The other man had long white hair, tied back in a low ponytail. He wore the same garb as his friend save for the kanji for 14 between his shoulders.

Nenacu looked at his friend beside him with a grin that could have only been learned from Naruto himself. "Well Minato, it looks like your son is ready long before I thought." He turned to the bald man and saluted. "I'll have him here as soon as possible Genryuusa-Taicho. You have my word"

* * *

Naruto snapped his concentration back into focus, forcing his rage deep down to make use of his sharp mind. He turned to look at Kakashi who was gaping at him. "Kakashi-sensei, there will be time to explain later. For now, we've got an enemy to face. Do you have a plan?"

Kakashi shook himself free of his shock and nodded, pulling his hitai-ate away from his sharingan eye to reveal the tri-bladed eye of the mangekyo sharingan. "Yes, fall back and wait. I'm going to try to use my new sharingan."

* * *

Sakrua was kneeling on the ground, panting from the physical exhertion of the battle thus far. She had just knocked away several objects made from the heavy iron sand and destroyed the puppet with the help of Chiyo, who had been controlling Sakura's movements as if she were a puppet as well.

Sasori produced a large scroll and, upon opening it, released 100 puppets, connecting to all of them with chakra strings to bring them against the pair. Chiyo countered this by producing ten of her own puppets, releasing her control of Sakura.

As the puppets battled fiercely with Sakura in the middle of everything, destroying Sasori's puppets left and right with her powerful strikes, Chiyo finally found the opening she had been looking for. She summoned yet another puppet that looked like a large demon head and sent it into Sasori, trapping him against the wall of the cave. This caused Sasori's remaining puppets to fall to the ground, lifeless.

Thinking that the battle was over, the two dropped their guard, moving towards the trapped Sasori. They found something strange though, part of his body was missing. The cylindrical tube that held his heart was nowhere to be found.

They heard a rustling behind them and turned to see one of the puppets rising from the ground with the tube lodged into it's chest. Thinking quickly, Chiyo grabbed control of Sasori's original puppets, the two he made to look like his mother and father, and used their weapons to pierce the man's heart.

Sasori chuckled darkly to himself and looked up at Sakura. "Before this all started, you wanted to know about Orochimaru correct? I have one of my underlings spying on him. I was supposed to meet him at the Heaven and Earth bridge in ten days time. It looks like I'll be making him wait thought.. damn..." With those final words, the life left what was left of Suna's former puppet master and genius.

* * *

Kakashi was drawing chakra into his eye while concentrating on the flying figure above them, willing the fabric of space to rip open under his gaze. This was made harder by the logs set into the canyon they were chasing Deidara through breaking his line of sight and Deidara himself. He had been throwing bomb spiders down in an attempt to separate Kakashi. As a result, he could only catch Deidara's remaining arm in the rip, tearing it off at the elbow.

Naruto saw his chance and leaped from one of the logs, breaking it from the force of his jump, and drew his blade. He focused a vast amount of wind chakra into the edge of his blade and swung it through the air in a wide arc, sending a visible distortion though the air that cut through both the bird and the rider. He quickly summoned several kage bunshin to catch the head of the bird before it fell to the ground.

With Gaara's body recovered finally, Naruto turned to where he knew what was left of Deidara had landed. "Kakashi-sensei, stay back. I'd rather you not see what will happen to this piece of filth." His voice was menacing, yet clearly only meant for his enemies.

Kakashi only nodded and Naruto vanished and seconds later, tortured screams ripped through the forest from the crippled Akatsuki member. After several minutes of drawn out torture there was finally silence and Naruto returned with the ring his victim had worn. He tossed it to Kakashi who stored it in his kunai pouch. "That's the proof that he's dead. Someday all of them will suffer the same fate."

Team Gai caught up at this point. Neji had seen a bright chakra, but it had disappeared now. Where they had seen it, they found blood splattered across several trees in the area along with the mutilated, still bleeding corpse of Deidara. It looked as if he had been skinned alive and then thrown against the trees to break every last bone in his body. The group had trouble keeping their stomachs from turning and quickly passed the scene to find Naruto and Kakashi.

Sakura and Chiyo caught up to them a few minutes later to find Kakashi attempting to read his book while Naruto just leaned against a tree in complete silence. Team Gai was duscussing something, but all Sakura could hear of it was the word youth every few sentences. Naruto was in his mindscape, sitting beside Kyuubi's cage with the fox, now the size of a doberman, stretching and shaking his mane. **"Kit, there was nothing we could do for him. You know that right?" **"Yeah, I know.. But if I can't even protect one person, than what was the point of our training?" **"The point? To make you strong enough to take out those Akatsuki bastards. You did that quite well too. We didn't get here in time because we hadn't gotten the information early enough."**

Naruto nodded in understanding and flashed back to reality to see Sakura watching him with concern. He turned to her and flashed his trademark grin, though his eyes betrayed his emotions. "We got him back at least. I take it you two killed that other one?" Sakura nodded and turned her head to look at Gaara, only to be surprised at what she saw. Chiyo, the elder who no longer cared for the village, was attempting to heal Gaara.

"Chiyo-sama.. there's nothing we can do for him. He's dead..." Sakura moved closer and noticed something strange about her technique. Chiyo wasn't trying to heal Gaara, she was transferring her life into the boy. Naruto noticed this as well as the fact that she didn't have nearly enough chakra left to do it right. He knelt beside Gaara and placed his hands on top of hers, giving her all the energy she could ever need.

Finally, Gaara's eyes opened and Chiyo fell into the deep sleep of death. They had done it. They had retrieved Gaara, but at the loss of one of their own.

Naruto helped Gaara sit up as several ninja from Suna arrived, gathering around their Kazekage with pride. Gaara, who had nobody but his siblings, now had the love and respect of his entire village. Naruto grinned and walked off, reaching behind his back for the small leather bag he had tied there. He dropped the rings of the two recently deceased Akatsuki in with two others. "Looks like I saved another one of our 'family' Yugito. I wonder how you're doing lately?"

_Flashback no Jutsu!_

It was during his training with Kyuubi that he met another blond jinchuuriki. He could tell because of the suffering he could see in her eyes that nearly mirrored his own. Wanting to get closer, possibly help somebody he could relate to, he had followed her. When he had found that she was running from the Akatsuki, he was furious.

It had taken some doing, but he finally gained her trust through battle with the organization and, with her help, managed to take the two of them out. One by severing his chakra system with his rasenshurken, and the other by lopping his head off and burying it several miles seperate from his body.

The two had travelled together for about a month afterwards and finally parted with a vow. They would track down Akatsuki and kill every one of them. They would keep their rings as proof. All with the goal of saving their family as she said it. Their destinies were so intertwined that they may as well be family.

_Flashback no Jutsu Kai!_

Naruto smiled to tying the pouch behind his back again before rejoining the group on their way back home. He supported Gaara with Kankuro on the way back, seeing as he was still stiff from his death. When they arrived, they saw the rest of the village standing on the lookout cliffs, cheering as their leader came back alive.

A day later, the group from Konoha left for home, Gai carrying Kakashi on his back comically while the rest of the group loaded their bags on Lee who, for whatever reason, wanted to race Gai back to the gates.

Back at the Hokage tower, the group had just finished making their report. Tsunade had immediately told Naruto and Sakura that they would be going on a mission to the Heaven and Earth bridge to get information on Orochimaru and possibly find Sauske. "But, you'll have three new members going with you. Two of my choosing and one of his." Tsunade glared angrily at the man who had just entered the room. He wore an odd robe that covered his entire body and his head was wrapped in bandages that covered one of his eyes. The man's name was Danzo.

"So who are the new three?" Sakura turned to look around the room as if they would just pop out.

"Well, two of them aren't around right now, but the third should be a fimilliar face to you, Naruto." Tsunade wore a small smirk at this and a man with long white hair came into the room, putting his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"What's up kid? Looks like I'm going on this mission with you. I needed to take you for training anyway, so this will work out just fine." Nenacu chuckled, watching Naruto's face turn from surprise to excitement.

"More training from you sensei? I've got to say, I'm looking forward to it." Naruto flashed his grin to Nenacu who smiled, walking out of the room. "Just be sure you don't show up late tomorrow. Until then, it looks like you've got the day off." With a wave, Nenacu disappeared around the corner of the hallway outside of Tsunade's room.

* * *

Well, that's it for this chapter. A little shorter than I wanted, but this was a good place to stop. I'm none to good at recreating fight scenes either, so look for those to get better when I can have free rein over them. Expect the chapters to get longer from here. I'm sure you noticed earlier, but now I'm really going to start taking liberties with the story line. Also, keep in mind that this is after the seireitei invasion arc in Bleach. And yes, I did indeed add a new squad, and yes, Nenacu is the captain of said squad. You'll find out what they specialize in in the next chapter. Also, Naruto's day off is in the next chapter, so expect a wee bit of fluff. Maybe more than a wee bit, but it's time to get into the harem, starting off with the lovely Hyuuga. Until then my friends, R&R. Your reviews, they feed me.


	4. Chapter 4: A Hectic Day of Relaxation

Finished uploading my last chapter, got my bowl of ramen, and got to writing this.

Dragon man 180-What a wonderful idea. Nemu is officially the first addition to the harem on the bleach side. See this people? You suggest stuff, and if I like it, it makes it into my story. That's what I call a good reader/writer relationship.

Anyway, I've yet to decide further harem characters at this point, so without further ado. 'kicks Nenacu'

"Ow! The writer of this fic does not and will never own any part of Naruto or Bleach. He owns me though, which is why he gets to kick me around. Do not steal me please."

* * *

**Chapter 4: A Hectic Day of Relaxation.**

Naruto left the Hokage tower shortly after receiving his assignment and wandered aimlessly until he saw Hinata looking at a hair salon in deep contemplation. Deciding to see what was going on, he made his way over, placing his hand on her shoulder gently. "Thinking about getting a haircut Hinata-hime?"

Hinata had just come back from a mission herself and was debating on whether she should cut her hair short again. 'Naruto always seemed to like Sakura, and she has short hair. Maybe he likes short hair on girls?' She was snapped out of her thoughts when her object of affection spoke to her. She turned around quickly, holding back the stutter that was threatening to come back. "Hello Naruto-kun. Actually, yes I was. What do you think?" She prayed to herself that it didn't sound like she was being desperate for his approval.

Naruto took an appraising look at her and grinned, cutting through Hinata's nerves like sunlight through the clouds. "Actually, I've always liked long hair. Yours is so beautiful, I think it would be a shame to cut it. But, it's your decision, and I'll stand by whatever it is you decide to do." He scratched the back of his neck while he talked.

Hinata's face gained a soft pink blush at the compliment from Naruto and she shook her head. "On second thought, I like it this way too.. Um, would you like to get something to eat? I'm sure a lot of the others are at Ichiraku's by now."

Naruto nodded at the thought of his favorite meal and the chance to see his friends. Being ninja, most were usually out on missions and they only had precious little time to socialize. "Yeah, that sounds like a good way to start a day off. Let's go then Hinata-hime. My treat." He offered his arm to her like he did every time they took a walk together and she gladly accepted it.

When they finally arrived at the ramen shop, Ino, Kiba, Choji, Shikamaru, Tenten, and Lee were sitting, talking and eating together. They saw the pair coming towards them and Ino and Kiba immediately began to tease them about it. Choji was too absorbed in his food to notice, Shikamaru was asleep on the counter as usual, and Lee was yelling something about how Naruto's flames of youth were burning more brightly every day. Hinata blushed profusely, but did not let go of Naruto's arm until they both sat at the counter.

"Hey old man, I'll have ten bowls of Miso to start. Also, Hinata's on my bill today." Suddenly, a fist came out of nowhere and Naruto ducked to avoid it. "What the hell was that for?" He turned around to see Nenacu glaring at him.

"I told you not to call me an old man! I may be your teacher, but I'm more like a brother to you than anything else." Nenacu turned his gaze to see Ino looking at him. He could have sworn he saw pink hearts instead of her eyes for a moment, but shook his head. 'That couldn't be right.'

"I wasn't talking to you sensei, get your ears checked. I was talking to that old man." Naruto pointed at Techui who was still laughing at the whole ordeal while making Naruto's food.

The entire group looked at Naruto and then at Nenacu as if confused by something.

"So, Naruto.. This guy's another teacher of yours? How do you do it man?" Kiba spoke up, crossing his arms over his chest and puffing his cheeks out like a small child.

"Nenacu-sensei? Yeah, he taught me loads. As for how I met him.. Well, he just kinda started tagging along with Jiraiya and when I asked him if he was a ninja, he said.."

"No," Nenacu finished Naruto's sentence for him. "I'm not a ninja by any stretch of the imagination. I am, however, a competent swordsman and a good teacher of elemental chakra control. That's about the only thing I've got other than speed and stealth."

"Elemental chakra? What in the world is that?" This time it was Choji's turn to speak up, having just finished his last bowl and adding it to a stack that could rival Naruto's.

"Well... it's probably better to show you" Nenacu produced several small slips of paper and handed it to each of the ninja while Techui and Ayami watched, interested in the rare ninja lesson. "This is chakra paper. I'm not going to explain it, it takes too much time. All you need to do is channel a small amount of chakra into the paper to see it's effect." At this, he held up his own which suddenly burst into flame. "As you see, my affinity is with fire, as is most of the fire country. That's how the countries were named by the way. Now, try it."

Naruto shrugged to himself and went through the routine again. 'Who knows? We may have changed our affinity a bit by merging our souls eh fox?' **"Perhaps. Your body is already starting to undergo the changes I was talking about earlier." **'Still not going to tell me what they are yet though, are you?' **"That would ruin the surprise."** 'Thought so, damn furball.'

To his surprise, the result had changed The paper crinkled like Kakashi's had, cut itself along the crinkles, and the pieces burst into flames. "Well.. That was unexpected.." He looked around, seeing that only Nenacu had noticed and was watching him with a knowing grin on his face.

The others were too busy watching the effect on their own slips. Kiba's had crumbled into dust, Hinata's had become quite soggy, Ino's was on fire, Choji's had been cut in half, Shikamaru, who was already aware of his type, smirked when all his slip did was turn black. That left Lee, who was staring sadly at the paper in his hand.

"What's up kid, you having troubles?" Nenacu placed his hand on Lee's shoulder.

"Hai.. I have never been able to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, only taijutsu. Therefore I have never had any chakra control training." Lee began to set his slip on the counter when Nenacu stopped him.

"Hey, I'm no ninja, kid, and I can do it. You just have to concentrate on the paper. You don't need all that other fancy stuff. Just try it."

Lee nodded and began concentrating on the paper in his hand. When the thing crumbled into dust, he cheered and suddenly Gai appeared next to him, tears streaming down his face.

"Lee! You have done something that even you didn't think was possible! I am so proud of you!"

Lee jumped up from his chair and hugged Gai. "Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

Nenacu leaned in close to the rest of the group who were watching the two in absolute horror. "They do that a lot?" The entire group nodded as one and slowly backed away.

After Gai and Lee left, Nenacu placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Hey, I've got to talk to you for a bit before the mission starts. It's about the training I was talking about."

Naruto nodded, excited at the prospect of training and left the shop, paying for his hand Hinata's food. "I'll see you guys later, training awaits. Oh, and you may want to see your sensei's about elemental chakra training now that you know what type you are. I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys can do." With that and a wave, he and Nenacu walked away.

"So, sensei, you noticed the change. What happened to do that? I'd never heard of anybody having three affinities." Naruto walked with his hands behind his head as he talked, watching the crowd part around him. They still feared him.

"Heh, you know what caused that. You originally had a good affinity for wind and an underlying affinity for lightning. Your merge with Kyuubi just made it stronger and added Kyuubi's fire element to the mix." Naruto looked at his white haired teacher in shock. "How did I know? Well, that's the training Naruto. I'll explain when we get to where we're going."

The two left the town entirely, heading for a run down looking shack just on the outskirts of town. Once they had entered the building, Nenacu pulled on a strange pair of gloves. They were red and fingerless with the odd symbol of a burning skull on the back. Without warning, Nenacu hit Naruto in the face with his palm, sending him rolling into the wall.

Naruto stood up and shook himself off. "What the hell was that for!?" He took a moment to catch his breath, which seemed harder than usual for some reason and saw that there was more than just he and Nenacu in the room. In the corner of the room there was a tall man with blond hair and bright blue eyes. Naruto recognized him instantly, he had admired that face for as long as he could remember. Speechless for a rare time in his life, he could only gape. "T..Tou-san?"

Minato nodded to his son, smiling broadly. "Hey Naruto. It's great to finally see you again. Your mother would have been here, but.. well.. paperwork is a hell that none of us can escape for long."

Forgetting that he was talking to his father who should be dead, he scratched his head in confusion. "Huh? What would Kaa-san be doing with paperwork? Wait.. you're dead, does that mean I'm dead?"

Nenacu chuckled and hit himself in the chest with the gloves. Naruto watched in awe as his body fell backwards but strangely, Nenacu was still standing, separate from his body. Nenacu grinned at Naruto whose mouth was gaping.

"No, kid, you aren't dead. We've just separated your spirit from your body for a while. First off, take a look at yourself." Nenacu pointed at Naruto before turning to retrieve his katana from the fallen body.

Naruto did as he was told and looked down at himself. He noticed that he had a long chain linking his spirit to his body. He also noticed something else strange. He currently had 9 gold furred tails waving gently behind him as well. "Huh, I guess merging with kyuubi did this as well huh?"

Minato nodded, walking closer to observe his son. "Yeah, it did. I didn't think that you and kyuubi would get along well enough to merge like this for several more years though. What happened?"

Naruto looked at the ground, a look of sadness in his eyes. "Kyuubi told me once that he was glad you did what you did. You sealed him away when he wasn't in control of himself. Despite all that, once he was sealed safely away, the villagers found out who he was sealed into and immediately began assassination attempts. I.. it's not your fault, but I've lived without the love of friends or family for most of my life. It wasn't until my graduation at the academy that I actually gained some friends. Even still, most of the village sees me as a monster. I don't blame you though Tou-san, you did exactly what you needed to do."

Despite what his son had said, Minato was feeling a good amount of anger towards what he thought were the good people of Konoha. It was his wish from the start that his son would be seen as a hero. Instead he had been shunned and cast out. 'Well, he's got a great attitude despite everything that's happened to him. Kushina will be so proud of him.'

Nenacu came back, his katana at his hip and a grin on his face. "So, here's the rub. Minato and I are going to follow you and your team on this mission. I'll be in my body, but Minato's just going to follow. Too easy to be recognized when you're as famous as he is around here." Naruto nodded, showing his understanding before Nenacu continued. "Now, we're going to have to get you ready for the training. This may hurt a bit."

Before Naruto could even ask, Nenacu drew his blade and cut the chain anchoring him to his body clean. Naruto felt as if something had suddenly gone missing and gasped for air. "Now, this should be easy since you know how to do it. You need to enter your mindscape and find a new kind of power. It has a much different feel than anything else, so you should know it right away."

Nodding, Naruto's face acquired a vacant expression as he delved into his mindscape. What he found there was that things had changed. Instead of the dreary sewer that his mind once was, it now resembled an old Japanese temple. Kyuubi was napping comfortably on several cushions where his cage once was. He paid the fox no mind though, and followed the strange sensation. He somehow knew his way there already.

When he finally found what he was looking for, he was surprised to see a slim woman with light green hair in a tight red Chinese dress leaning against the wall. She had light green eyes and was wearing armlets that looked like gold Chinese dragons wrapping around from her wrists to her elbows. On her ankles were similar bands leading down to a pair of soft brown leather shoes. She saw Naruto approaching and waved to him with a bright smile. "Finally, I get to meet you Master. I have been here for so long, waiting for you to find me."

Naruto lifted his eyebrow, staring at the strange girl. "Master? Waiting? Just who are you and why are you in my head?"

The girl shook her head sadly. "You aren't ready to hear my name yet Master. When the time is right, you'll know. For now, you need to take this." The girl reached behind her back and held Naruto's katana out to him with the same bright smile she wore earlier." Just be careful not to break it okay? It would really hurt."

Naruto blinked as he took his sword. It felt somehow more right to him than it had previously. "Break it? Hurt? Wait, that would mean that you're the sword?"

The girl nodded once more. "Yes, I am. I know you've already given me a name in the real world, but, it's not really my name. Please be careful with me, I'll be with you until the very end of everything, seeing as I'm part of you and all."

Naruto nodded and smiled at her. "I'll try to get to know you better as soon as I can. Until then, take care of fluffy back there, would ya?" He nodded back in the direction of the sleeping kyuubi.

The girl giggled happily and nodded before Naruto left his mindscape. When he looked back down at his body, he found that the chain on his chest had vanished and that he was wearing the same clothing as both his father and Nenacu. The two were applauding Naruto's success.

"Heh, from now on, you'll be able to see spirits when you're in your human body. Just don't talk to Minato here while in the company of the rest of the group. He's going to explain everything about the spirit world and about Shinigami, of which you are one of as of now."

Naruto nodded and looked at his body which was laying against the wall and looked to be sleeping. "So.. uh, how do I get back inside?"

Nenacu and Minato burst out laughing at the one important thing that they had forgotten to mention. "Ah, that. Well, it's pretty easy, you just get back in." Nenacu demonstrated by laying back down inside of his body and standing up as one person again. Naruto followed suit, feeling strangely whole again.

"Well, I'm going to go about the rest of my day if you both don't mind." The two shrugged at this and Naruto left with a wave. "See you both later."

Minato watched his son leave with a proud grin on is face. "It's amazing, none of this went over his head and he didn't really even react to me being here. It's like it was completely normal for him."

Nenacu nodded, watching his friend. "Well, I was preparing him for this for a while. He didn't really even know I was doing it either."

* * *

Naruto was whistling to himself as he walked the streets of Konoha when he was suddenly ambushed by Ino.

"Soo, Naruto. You know Nenacu pretty well right?" Ino fell into step with her blond friend who was eying her carefully. "Yes, sort of. I mean, I trained with the guy for about half a year. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason really, you just seemed pretty close with him, so I wanted to see if he was any good. Besides, I'm interested in that elemental training he was talking about and I don't think Asuma-sensei knows enough about it to teach it properly." Ino drew closer, attempting to look innocent.

Naruto sighed to himself. 'Well, he's done it again. Gotta hand it to him, Ino would be a hard catch. Guess she's given up on Sasuke.' "Well, I'm going on a mission soon and he's coming along. I guess I could talk to him about it. It's not like you to ask other people about this kind of.. thing... Ino?" The girl was suddenly gone after hearing what she wanted. Naruto shook his head, grinning to himself.

Hinata had given into her stalking tendencies after Naruto had left with his teacher. What she had seen happen in that shack with her byakugan had frightened her, but she was even more disturbed when he had suddenly come back to life. Deciding that something like that needed to be investigated lest she lose her Naruto-kun forever, she followed him back into town, approaching him only after Ino had suddenly disappeared.

"Uh.. Um, Naruto-kun?" Hinata hesitantly placed her hand on Naruto's arm.

"Mm? Oh, hey there Hinata-hime, what's up?" Naruto lifted his arm, resting it around Hinata's shoulders subconsciously. He knew something was wrong by how hesitant she was being.

Hinata blushed lightly at the contact, enjoying it nonetheless. "Naruto-kun.. I'm sorry, but I followed you after you left. I.. I saw you die, but then you came back.. What happened?"

Naruto sighed once again, pulling the girl closer to comfort her. "It's okay Hinata-hime." He looked around to make sure nobody was listening and then explained the entire situation to her, including the part about his father. "So, you see, as hard to believe as it is, that's the story."

Hinata tilted her head into Naruto's chest, smiling. "I believe you. You've never lied to me before, so why would you start now. I trust you Naruto-kun."

Naruto noticed that they were by the entrance of the Hyuuga compound and turned to Hinata. "Well Hinata-hime, I should probably let you go here. I've got to start preparing for the mission tomorrow. If all goes well, I'm coming back with that bastard Sasuke."

Hinata nodded in understanding and stepped away slightly before doing something completely uncharacteristic of the shy girl, but seeing him die had triggered something inside of her. She leaned in close to Naruto and kissed him on the lips, blushing furiously. "Good luck Naruto-kun. Please come back safe." With that, she ran into the compound to avoid further embarrassment.

Naruto turned and began to walk away, touching his lips thoughtfully as he started towards his apartment. He grinned a little later once it had really sunk in. Hinata, one of the most beautiful women in Konoha had decided that he was worth loving. He closed his door and began to pack his bag for the next day, reflecting on the days happenings. He shook his head, smiling to himself. 'Things are gonna get interesting from here on in.' **"You say that like they weren't already kit." **He chuckled to himself, knowing that his tenant was right.

* * *

Ha! There it is, the next chapter. Yes, I gave the others elemental affinities. Tell me if they already had any and if they were different than the ones I gave them. Other than that, look forward to the finding Sukey arc with a twist. Naruto learns how to use his new shinigami powers, and Sasuke isn't n ass like always? You'll just have to wait and see. Now, for my writing benefit, please R&R. I like to know what you people want me to write about so that I can write it. You, my readers, play a large part in me deciding where I want to take the story next. I'll post more of the harem characters on my next chapter, so until then, the polls are still open. Also, I know some of you may think I moved Hinata and Naruto too close too quickly. Think about it. If a girl like Hinata really saw her object of affection die, don't you think she would decide to make some changes?

Well, that's it for me, see you all next time.


	5. Chapter 5: Long Lost Friend

Well guys, I must say that it's a pleasure writing for all of you. Nobody's attempted to flame me yet, and I've been getting compliments, so I must be doing something right. Now for a little bit of back story on Nenacu. I originally got the name by tapping random keys on the keyboard in frustration once after all of my original names were all taken. Nenacu is what popped out, and I thought it was a good name. I've gone with that ever since. The character has developed in my head over the years and Nenacu is really the only name that ever fit him. So, there he is. Now, for the current harem list.

Hinamori, Nemu, Hinata, Yugito, and Ayame. The polls are still open for a little while longer, but just for a little while. Get your votes in quickly.

Oh, by the way, my friend decided to draw my rendition of Naruto for me. You can find it at her deviant art page here. Shteph22 at deviantart. Check out all of her other stuff too, she's an awesome artist. She's even drawn her own rendition of Nenacu.

Now then, if my little brainchild would kick things off..

"Bah, Nenacu does not own Naruto or Bleach. He does however own me, Nenacu. Odd how that works eh? Please don't steal me, I like it here."

* * *

**Chapter 5: Long Lost Friend.**

Naruto woke up earlier than he was accustomed to, probably due to the fact that he had a mission he was looking forward to. It could have also been the fact that his father's spirit had been watching him sleep for the past 15 minutes. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and waved at his dad before getting dressed, making absolutely sure every weapon was easily in reach. He looked at his dad again and grinned, pulling the infamous tri-pronged kunai from his pouch.

"Hey, Tou-san, where did you get the idea for hiraishin? I didn't even think it was possible until Kyuubi forced me to learn it. I guess he figured the method behind it out during the battle with you." He looked at the kunai thoughtfully before stashing it away safely in his pouch.

Minato crossed his arms, looking up at the ceiling. "You know, I'm not too sure where I got the idea for any of my techniques.. I just thought that they sounded cool at the time and I figured out how to do it. Speaking of my techniques, have you met an old pervert with.."

"Ero-sennin?" Naruto cut in. "Yeah, I know him well enough. You wanted to know if he taught me the rasengan right?" Minato chuckled ad the name his son called his teacher and nodded. "Yeah, he even told me what you were trying to do with it. I've got that down but.." Naruto looked around at his apartment and grinned. "How about I show you? We'll need to move to a more open area though, it's pretty dangerous."

Minato nodded and followed Naruto out of the house and into the team seven training ground. He smirked at the sight of the three logs still buried in the ground. He remembered his test here still. He had been the one tied to the log.

Naruto stood in the center of the clearing, holding his hand out. He took a deep breath and looked at Minato. "Now, I know this won't hurt you, you're a spirit, but I haven't tried it this way yet. I assume Nenacu-sensei already told you about the odd effect Kyuubi had on my affinity." Minato nodded, eager to see the finished product of his technique. "Well, I'm going to attempt to use all three at once. Just using the wind caused a crater."

He took a deep breath and began to access all of the different chakra flowing through his body, focusing all of it in the palm of his hand. At first, only the rasengan formed, albeit made of his new golden chakra. Soon though, a crackling of both electricity and fire engulfed the sphere in his hand while four blades of wind formed outside of the sphere. He grinned to himself and slammed the swirling mas of chakra into the ground below him. The earth below him gave way as his attack spread into a tight sphere of crackling, burning, red wind. Naruto ducked in the center of the attack, covering himself with a thin aura of chakra to protect himself from the ill effects of the attack.

When the wind finally died out, Minato saw Naruto standing in the center of a completely smooth glass crater, the fire and electricity in the attack having melted the ground. Naruto himself was panting heavily from the strain of the new technique. He climbed out of the crater and sat down cross legged, waiting for his energy to return. "Well... I think.. I may have.. overdone it..."

Relieved and amazed that his son was completely unharmed after such an attack, Minato began laughing. "I'm not so sure that's the case. It looked like you used the bare minimum you needed for that. If you ever get that off in battle, it'll be a one shot, last ditch attack. I don't need to tell you this, but I don't think you should ever do that again unless you have no other options.

Naruto stood up shakily, slowly regaining his composure. "Yeah, I don't need to be told twice. If I hadn't shielded myself when I did, I'd be in the intensive care ward of the hospital even with kyuubi helping my body regenerate. I want to try one more thing though.."

Hinata had awoken just as early as Naruto, but had lain in bed for a while longer, thinking about her actions the previous night. Thinking that she may have done something wrong instead of truly getting her feelings across, she dressed herself in a hurry, forsaking her usual jacket outfit for a pair of black capri pants and a tight powder blue t-shirt. She checked her reflection in the mirror to make sure her hair was in place before stepping into her sandals and rushing out of the compound, byakugan active in order to find the one person that shone like a beacon in her sight.

She had arrived in time to see the dangerous sphere of chakra grow and disapate and watched as the object of her affections crawled out of the yawning glass crater of his creation. She was about to go to him when she saw something strange. He appeared to be talking to somebody that wasn't there. She suddenly remembered what Naruto had been telling her about his father's spirit the night before and realized that he was probably showing his father how far he'd come.

Noticing something strange, she refocused on the scene in front of her. She watched, entranced, as she could see Naruto gathering two different chakra into his hands. Her eyes widened as his hands went through a blur of seals that she had never thought were possible to work together.

Naruto finished the set of seals and pointed at a nearby tree with the index and middle fingers of his right hand.** "Hiden: Chi Dengeki no Jutsu!**" (A/N literally blood shock jutsu) From the tips of his fingers what appeared to be red lightning arced into the tree faster than a trained eye could follow. The effect was different than regular electricity would cause though, as the bolt jumped through the cellular structure of the tree it burned holes through instead of catching the tree itself on fire. The bolt proceeded to strike the boulder behind the tree, turning the contact point to glass..

"Heh, well that's interesting and frightening all at once. An attack the mixes the properties of fire and electricity. I don't want to imagine what would happen were you to hit somebody with that." Minato applauded his son for his enginuity. "I have a feeling that the changes kyuubi has caused to your body from your merge will become a bloodline. No fancy dojutsu or anything physical aside from enhanced chakra reserves and an affinity for more elements than normal." He caught Hinata out of the corner of his eye and grinned.

Naruto saw this and turned to see Hinata watching him, face glowing with pride at his strength. He waved her over with a wave, his fox grin creeping onto his features. "Good morning Hinata-hime, You normally up this early?"

Hinata blushed at being called out but approached despite herself. "No, not really Naruto-kun.. Um... What were you doing out here?" She gestured at the crater in the ground and over to the tree he had hit earlier that looked like it was rapidly withering, steam pouring from the clean hole that the attack had passed through.

Naruto chuckled to himself, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm just trying out a few new jutsu I'd been thinking about creating." He looked around to view his handiwork and chuckled nervously. "I guess they succeeded, but they're a little dangerous to be sure."

Hinata giggled nervously and nodded, having seen the full destructive force that were Naruto's experiments. "Um, I wanted to talk to you about last night.. What I did was.. What I wanted to say is,"

Naruto smiled genuinely, placing his index finger against her lips. "Don't you go apologysing for what you feel Hime, I've known for a while. I've just been waiting for you to gain the confidence to let me know for yourself." Nenacu turned to scowl at Minato who was aww-ing at the two. "Can it pops."

Hinata blinked and looked in the direction Naruto had turned to. "So I was right, you were talking to your father." She bowed in that direction. "Um, it's very nice to meet you sir, though it's very odd to talk to somebody I can't see or hear.."

Still sniggering, Minato turned to his son. "Got yourself a Hyuuga girl eh? Nice catch! Try this, channel some of your new energy into her eyes. That should shock the rest of her system sufficiently."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow at his father, but shrugged and did as he was told, placing his fingertips on Hinata's temples. After a small shock of discomfort, Hinata opened her eyes, feeling as if she was able to see things more clearly than before. She was shocked to find that she could see what looked like an older Naruto standing where there had been nobody before. She gasped, realizing exactly who Naruto's father was. That was the one thing she hadn't been told.

Naruto had been looking up at the sky to check the time. 'Damn, I'm late!' He looked back down at Hinata with a smile on his face. "I'll explain it all completely when I get back. I'll knock some sense into that bastard this time, there's no way he could have become stronger than me as I am now." He cupped her cheeks in his palms and kissed her forehead before vanishing with a whip of his clothing. Minato had followed just as quickly.

They arrived at the gates of Konoha several minutes late, to see the rest of his team standing there, ready to leave. "Hey guys, sorry about that. I got carried away testing a couple new jutsu." He received nods of understanding from his team. Sakura smiled to herself at how much her friend had matured. Nenacu sent a furtive glance at Minato who nodded in turn. The other two, however, were new to Naruto. One was a tall, dark haired, cat eyed man. He was wearing the usual attire of a jounin, but something about him screamed anbu to Naruto. The other reminded him of his lost friend. His face was lacking any discernible emotion, whereas Sasuke had exuded both confidence and rage from every aspect of is being.

Naruto turned to these two and nodded. "I'm sure you both have already made your introductions, but if you don't mind, I would like to hear your names for myself. I remember them better that way."

The cat eyed man stepped forward with a nod. "Yamato, currently replacing Kakashi."

"Sai," Was all that the other person supplied.

Naruto committed the names, faces, and exact details of what little personality he had seen in the two to memory, turning to face away from the city. "Well, if the mission is to gather information on Orochimaru's position in eight days and it takes six to make it to the bridge, I would say that there's chance for light travel today, make it to the bridge two days in advance. That way we can work out various scenarios."

Yamato nodded at Naruto's evaluation of the situation. "That is what I would suggest. During the first day, I believe that we should work on strengthening our teamwork. I know you and Sakura work well together, and I can only assume that you and Nenacu are well off as well. There's a hotsprings resort half a day away. If it's agreeable, we should make it there and stop for the day as my treat.

Sakura greeted this option with an enthusiastic squeal that obviously meant yes. Naruto and Nenacu shared knowing looks before nodding their approval. Sai decided to go with whatever the majority decided, so they left the gates at a walk, Naruto hanging back so that he could hear his father's explanations of soul society over the chatter of the rest of the group.

"Now, I've already told you all about hollows and wholes, it's time to teach you about the life of a shinigami. Seireitei is divided into 14 squads, each specializing in their various areas. From squad one down, here's the list of captains. You should commit them to memory, because crossing even one of them when we take you over would be a bad thing.

The sotaicho and captain of squad one is Yamamoto Genryuusa. Squad two is Soi Fon, three is unseated so Kira Izuru handles things, four is Unohana Retsu, five is currently unseated, so the vice captain Hinamori Momo has to run things for now, six is Byakuya Kuchiki, seven is Sajin Komamura, eight is Shunsui Koraku, nine would be yours truly, ten is Hitsugaya Toushiro, eleven is Kanpachi Zaraki," Naruto noticed a visible shudder at this name, but decided to ask about it later. "Twelve is Kurotsuchi Mayuri, thirteen is Ukitake Jushiro, and finally, fourteen is somebody you already know. Fushicho Nenacu."

Naruto wasn't too surprised by this revalation, and quickly ran the names and numbers through his head to make sure he had everything down. "So, why is it that two of the squads don't have a captain heading them?"

Minato sighed. "That's because three of the captains rebelled a few months ago. They haven't died, instead they've gone over to Hueco Mundo, the hollow world. We still don't know why they did this though."

The two spent most of that days traveling talking back and forth and soon Naruto understood most of the ins and outs of soul society. Not long after that, they reached the resort and checked into their rooms. Sakura was the only one to have a room to herself, Sai and Naruto were staying in the same room while Nenacu and Yamato took the last.

Naruto and Sai decided to test out the springs before it was time to eat. He couldn't quite place it, but Narut knew for a fact that Sai was hiding something from the rest of the group, he just couldn't quite place what it could be. "Hey Sai, you were the one put on this team by that Danzo guy right?"

Sai nodded, staring at the wall dividing the men's bath from the women's. "Yes, that is correct."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow in his direction. "You don't talk much, do you?"

"No, not really. When you have been trained to suppress your emotions, you tend to avoid things that may cause those emotions to resurface."

Naruto blew a low whistle and looked up. "About that, why would you even want to do that to yourself? Sure some emotions are hard to handle, but I don't think you can become truly strong unless you are able to feel them."

Sai tilted his head to the side in thought before standing up. "I'm getting out now. It's almost time to eat."

Naruto merely shrugged and Sai left, replaced by the form of Nenacu in a towel. "Yo kid, glad you're still here. See, I need your help with something."

The blond in question smirked knowingly, looking over at his teacher. "Let me guess, you need to see through that dividing wall."

Nenacu nodded his head with a grin and soon the two were giggling perversely while watching the opposite sex mull around in the water.

* * *

Yamato was looking at the table of food and the small seeds in his palm in deep thought before pushing one of the sees into Sai's portion. This way, should Sai leave on secret orders from Danzo, he would know exactly where to find him. The rest of the group came in shortly after and seated themselves, each digging into the food with gusto. Yamato smiled to himself both at his team's pleasure and at the fact that Sai had just eaten the seed.

The next few days of traveling went by quickly enough for Naruto. He was learning so many things about a place he'd not even seen that he was sure he was becoming disillusioned. Minato decided to give him a break from that to tell him stories of his and Kushina's lives. He told him about creating the rasengan and the intricacies of hiraishin that only he had known. The day before they arrived at the bridge, Minato, not having a body to do this with, instructed Nenacu to draw several seals on Naruto's body "These," He explained "are for you to draw chakra into. They will increase the effect on gravity on your body proportional to the amount of chakra drawn into them." He also explained how the seals would be there for the rest of his life, but would vanish into his skin in a few days.

Naruto immediately began training with those seals active and as heavy as he could make himself while still being able to keep up with the others. He even thought that he had found a different way to use them, but that would take more experimentation than he had time for.

The day of the meeting with Sasori's spy arrived quickly in this way and they set their plan into action. Yamato had disguised himself with a wood jutsu and changed his voice to match Sakura's memory. It was almost comical to hear if the situation hadn't been so serious. Sai, Sakura, and Naruto were to wait for a signal from Yamato to capture the informant if need be. Nenacu was to be backup if all else failed as he had no ninja experience.

All were in position when the informant came. He and Yamato talked for a time before he dropped his hood, revealing dark eyes, glasses, and white hair tied back in a high ponytail. Sky blue and emerald green eyes narrowed at the sight of the figure. 'Kabuto' was the thought that both had in unison.

Kabuto and Yamato talked for a while longer before Yamato, about ready to give his signal, drew a kunai. Kabuto saw this and jumped back in time to avoid the sudden attack of a man who resembled a snake. His skin was pale white, his hair long and black, but his eyes were yellow slits. Naruto clenched his fists tight but waited still for the signal to move.

The signal never came, but Kabuto turned on Yamato, smashing his disguise. The three watching took that as their cue to move and suddenly they were in front of Yamato, forming a wall between him and the other two. "Orochimaru.. It's time for you to get what's been coming to you snake bastard," spat Naruto, venom dripping from every syllable.

"Oho, it's the fox boy. I wonder which is stronger now, you or Sasuke." Came the reply of Orochimaru. He was conceited to think that Naruto wouldn't have improved in the slightest.

"This isn't about that teme yet. Right now I feel like taking you down." Naruto held his hand out to Sakura in a plea for her and the rest to fall back.

Sai and Sakura looked to Yamato for guidance and Yamato, having heard of Naruto's prowess from what Kakashi and Jiraiya had told him, nodded before jumping back, Sai and Sakura following close.

As soon as he was sure that his friends were out of the way, Naruto tapped into his chakra, allowing the thin, shimmering, golden cloak to cover his body. His eyes narrowed into feral slits and the birth scars on his cheeks widened out. Taking advantage of Orochimaru and Kabuto's temporary surprise, he blurred through a set of seals that Minato recognized. "First to go is you, traitor." Naruto pointed towards Kabuto with his middle and forefinger "**Chi Dengeki no Jutsu!**" The resulting red bolt struck Kabuto square in the chest and the result was frightening. Almost immediately, red steam began to billow from his skin as the bolt spread through his body, the fire aspect of the jutsu causing his blood to boil instantly. Kabuto screamed in pain, but nothing the medical genius could do would stop the effect. He was a shriveled husk of his former self shortly after Naruto charged Orochimaru with his katana.

The snake user was forced to draw his kusenagi blade on the boy in defense, thinking that he could cut cleanly through the his blade. That was his second mistake. Naruto instinctively drew sharp wind chakra into the black blade just before impact with the kusenagi. Neither blade was cut to the surprise of Orochimaru.

'This boy! Perhaps I chose the wrong body to become my next vessel. That can be remedied though.' Orochimaru twisted his blade to free it from the lock he was in, but Naruto matched his movements, pushing fire chakra into the blade to increase the lethality of his blade.

"Snake teme, you should have never taken my friend. By my vow to kill every bastard Akatsuki current or otherwise." He turned his blade, sharpening the wind chakra further to cut cleanly through Orochimaru's kusenagi. "And by my promise to Sakura to bring our friend back" He created a tight gold rasengan in his right hand, slamming it into Orochimaru's side, sending him sliding back several feet. Naruto cracked the knuckles of his right hand with a quick flex, slipping into his favorite fighting stance. (A/N think Lee's stance but close fisted, hand on his katana, sheathed for quick draw techniques.) "I'll kill you this time around. Prepare yourself for hell!"

Naruto drew fire chakra into the heavy knuckles on his gloves, turning the normally black metal a bright, cherry red before charging, connecting the first punch with the same place his rasengan had hit earlier, searing the wound shut. Orochimaru grimaced in pain, but began to dodge much better after the first few blows and did something strange. He crawled out of his mouth, as if shedding his skin like a snake. He emerged completely unharmed.

* * *

In Naruto's mindscape, the green haired woman was watching intently. She had been with Naruto all his life, yet had no knowledge of his life before he had awakened her. She turned to Kyuubi who was also watching, fur standing on end. Kyuu-san, why do you and Naruto hate this person so much?" She ran her fingers through Kyuubi's mane to comfort the fox demon spirit.

"**This man corrupted and stole one of the kit's treasured people from him. He was also once a member of Akatsuki, the organization that threatens the lives of six others like Naruto. The kit has every reason for his anger. As for me, Orochimaru performed several experiments on my brood, killing many and twisting my mind against all humans. A man named Madera Uchiha took advantage of this and tricked me into attacking Konoha for his own gain. It wasn't until three years ago that I came to my senses."**

The girl nodded in understanding, glad for the insight into the life of her master. She fervently hoped that, soon, he would be ready to hear her name so that she could help him as Kyuubi did.

* * *

The fight had moved into the forest beyond the bridge. Orochimaru had found himself running from a boy. 'A boy! Not even Sasuke could have come this far in such a short amount of time. If this keeps up, I'll have no choice but to take this boy's body as my own. I may not gain the sharingan, but I would have the unimaginable power of the demon fox!' He winced in pain as an odd kunai pierced his shoulder, lodging into the joint. Orochimaru was unable to react to this as a cry ripped through the quiet air. "**Hiraishin Chi Dengeki no Jutsu!**" (A/N Hiraishin actually means lightning rod in Japanese. I think you can understand how this would work.)

Orochimaru was struck by the same red bolt that had taken his assistant and began to feel the effects instantly. He stopped in the middle of a wide clearing to face Naruto, knowing that this was the only way he could save himself now.

Naruto approached carefully, wondering what the man before him had planned. It didn't take long to find out, however, when he was suddenly thrown into his mindscape. The strange part was that Orochimaru was still standing in front of him. "What the hell is this? Trying to save your skin by taking mine?"

Orochimaru chuckled maliciously as several snakes began to slither out from behind his back. "Perceptive boy, but it's too late. You can't resist me here. I'm going to claim your power for myself. After I do, there will be nothing to stop me from obtaining immortality!"

Naruto smirked as the snakes drew close. "You think a coward like you could handle Kyuubi? You don't realize how crowded it already is in here." As if on cue, both kyuubi and the green haired girl appeared beside the now grinning Naruto. The boy turned to his furry tenant. "Kyuubi, I've destroyed his body and now he wants mine. I figure that it's your turn for vengance. Have some fun with this snake's soul."

Kyuubi bared his teeth in his way of a smile as Naruto turned to walk away, not particularly wanting to see the demon's way of torture, the girl trailing behind him, looking over her shoulder just in case any sneak attacks were mounted against Naruto.

When the rest of the group arrived at the scene of Orochimaru's death, they found Naruto sitting with his legs crossed and his eyes closed as if in heavy meditation. Several feet in front of him was the shriveled remains of a giant white snake with a decidedly human face. They took this monstrosity to be the true form of Orochimaru.

Naruto opened his eyes to see his comrades with a grin on his face. "Hey guys, he's gone now." Came his blunt answer to the question on everybody's mind.

Yamato stepped forward, his hands held out in front of him in a gesture of mild frustration. "That's great Naruto, but now we'll never know where he's been hiding out at. We're essentially back to square one."

The blond shook his head, his grin turning into a confident smirk. "You give me too little credit Yamato-sensei. I happen to know that their base is just five miles west of here. Don't ask me how I got it out of him, I'd rather not say."

* * *

Five miles later, they found the base, exactly where Naruto had claimed it would be. However, there was yet another large rock blocking the entrance. Wanting to get this over with quickly, he nodded towards Sakura who understood instantly. The two rushed at the boulder, slamming their chakra infused fists into the surface. The boulder crumbled into gravel and Naruto shook his hand out. "Man, I don't think I'll ever get used to that.."

Sakura smiled at her friend, having felt the same way near the beginning of her training and the group rushed into Oochimaru's base to find Sasuke. Naruto noticed that Sai was falling back slowly however and, inconspicuously, fell back with him.

Once they were out of range of Yamato and Sakura, Naruto turned to Sai. "Alright man, I know you've got an alternate mission other than information retrieval. What has Danzo sent you to do really?"

Sai gave his fake smile to Naruto as they kept running, checking door after door along the way. "What makes you think that I have any other mission Naruto-san?"

Naruto growled under his breath, becoming frustrated with the amount of doors there were in the hall. "It's not hard to guess Sai. Danzo wants to take Konoha over. It's my guess that he sent you to Orochimaru for that purpose. Not only that, but after you had brokered a treaty with the snake, you were going to try to kill Sasuke off. You seem to be going off of information about me that's over three years old. I admit to being an idiot back then, but far from it now."

The corners of Sai's mouth drooped into a frown and he stopped, frustrated at being found out so easily. "I see.. Well, you've got it all correct, so I will have to call this mission a failure on my part." He leaned against the wall, tilting his head back to think about his next move.

"Tch, damn Danzo, I swear the next time I see him he'll be more scarred up than ever before. But anyway Sai, you should think about leaving root. Shoving your emotions back can't be good for you. The last guy I knew who did that went nuts an thought only about power and revenge. He just happens to be the very guy we're looking for too. Sakura told me how you said that you didn't want to be compared to him before we left, so here's your chance to be different." Naruto grinned at Sai before producing a small book, handing it to him. "By the way, you dropped this a little way back. It looks like it'd be something important to you."

Sai's features changed once more into a genuine smile. "I think I will try. Thank you." He took the book and placed it into his pack before the two set off again to look for Sasuke

In the shadows far behind the group, two older men grinned. "Well he's really got a powerful personality eh Minato? He always seems to be able to do that sort of thing without trying."

Minato nodded, looking around. "He does indeed. Don't you think we should be helping him though?"

"Nah, I've got no skills for this kind of thing and he'd look crazy if he started following directions from somebody he can't see." Nenacu was interrupted by a large far off explosion that signaled a cranky Sasuke. "Besides, I think they just found him. Feel like watching?"

Minato chuckled, walking through the halls towards the source of the explosion. "Watch my son teach a high and mighty Uchiha how to act like a proper human being? I wouldn't miss it."

Naruto was standing in the middle of a rubble filled crater, looking up into a familiar face. Sasuke hadn't changed much at all over the years aside from getting taller. He still had that stupid duck tail haircut and he was now wearing the sound ninja uniform complete with the purple rope bow. The blond chuckled, flashing his grin up at his friend. "Hey there teme, it's been a while. Looks like you've gotten stronger, eh?"

Sakura and Yamato ran into the crater to stand beside Naruto and Sai, Nenacu and Minato bringing up the rear, content to stand by the edge and watch.

"Naruto.. It doesn't look like you've gotten any better at all, falling into such an easy trap like that. Where's Orochimaru anyway? He was supposed to teach me a new jutsu today.." Sasuke looked down from his perch on the edge of the crater at the group, an obvious air of superiority in his eyes.

"That child molesting bastard? Dead." Came Naruto's easy reply, stepping into his stance for the attack he knew to come. "We've come to knock some sense into your thick skull. I'll say it again. I'm gonna drag you back even if I have to break every bone in your body to do it."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and suddenly he was standing in front of Naruto, his blade unsheathed and moving to stab the blond in the back.

"Naruto! Look out!"

* * *

Well, cliffhanger here. This got a little long for me and I didn't quite know where to stop, so I though here was the best place. It'll keep you reading at least. I also apologize for moving things a little fast here. I'm trying to get into the next chapter where the real plot starts up. Bear with me until then alright?

You may have noticed that I don't use the plural for ninja or for many other Japanese words used in my fic. This is because, like deer, the plural for most Japanese words when used in English context is the word itself. Ninja is ninja, kunai is kunai, chakra is chakra, ect.

Also, I need an idea for what to name Naruto's bloodline. Keep in mind that the specifics of the bloodline are these. His children will have both massive chakra reserves and an equal affinity for three different elements. They don't have to be the same as Naruto's. They can also use their elements in conjunction with each other much like how the wood element was created.

I don't have much else to put down here today, I kinda said it all up there. So, if you would R&R I would appreciate it greatly. I love you all who give me your ideas, several of which are being worked into the story. Until next time my friends, have a great day.


	6. Chapter 6: The Begining of Life in Death

Ha haha ha..... Damn, it's been way too long, hasn't it? (looks around to see people glaring at him angrily.) Yup, far too long. I blame life, and a gigantic writers block, and job finding, and collage. Most of all, I blame Nenacu. He didn't tell me to work like he should have.

Nenacu: Yes I did, you just wouldn't listen to me!

Err.... Anyway, you probably want to read the next chapter, and I told you that I'd let you know the harem girls, so here they are, and here it is.

Hinata, Yugito, Ayame, Nemu, Hinamori, Yoruichi. Any more than six right now, and I fear my brain will explode from keeping track of everything.

I did do something else productive in my time. I got the names for several jutsu I'm gonna have Naruto make, as well as the names of his zanpakto and his kekke genkai. Sorry to say, but you don't get to know them quite yet.

Jeff: To answer your question about the healing nature and if it will be passed on. It's best explained by saying sort of. The reason the chakra healed Naruto was because Kyuubi made it do so. Naruto still has that ability, and Kyuubi can still help it along, but his children will have to learn to guide it themselves. So, yes and no.

Well, you've waited long enough, let's get lazy here to kick things off.

"Bah! Once again, Nenacu does not own Naruto or Bleach. He does own me though, so do not steal me. I don't like being stolen."

* * *

**The Beginning of Life in Death**

"Naruto! Watch out!" Came the cry of one pink haired young woman. She was too slow though, Sasuke had moved much faster than she could track, now standing with one arm around Naruto's shoulders from the front, his other hand resting on the hilt of the blade held behind his lower back.

"You really haven't improved at all, have you dobe? Saying you've done something that not even I could do yet. You always were terrible at bluffing." Sasuke began to draw his blade while Naruto simply smiled sadly, all the while gathering small, yet sharp, gusts of wind into his hand, purposefully cutting the flesh of his palm in what he hoped would resemble a certain seal placed on himself days before.

"That snake really has messed with your mind, hasn't he brother? I'm sorry to have to do this, but it's for the best.." The blonde moved just as Sasuke began to strike, planting his bloodied palm on the raven haired Uchiha's bared chest while forcing as much chakra through his hand and into the makeshift seal. The act of which propelled the two from each other. Naruto escaping the encounter with a gash across his side while Sasuke was left with an odd, heavy feeling.

"Well, damn.. I guess that didn't work quite as well as planned, but some of the effect should still be there. How do you feel, teme?" Naruto gave his friend a half grin, sliding easily into his preferred stance. "You'd better fight me with all you've got Sasuke. I didn't devote three years away from my loved ones to fail here, and at my current state, you just may have a chance to get away." With that, he began to tap into his deeper chakra reserves, the golden fox cloak wrapping around him.

Sasuke, now taking this as a serious fight, activated his sharingan, focusing his keen eyes on his blonde rival. He was surprised at what he saw. There Naruto stood, but now he seemed to have nine gold furred tails waving placidly behind him along with pointed fox ears of the same hue standing alert atop his head. "Tch, so it's like everybody said. You've been the demon fox all along, haven't you dobe?"

"I wasn't, but now I am. Or should I say we are? Maybe I'll explain it to you someday." He watched Sasuke carefully, looking for any small opening in his defenses as he took mental note of his chakra reserves. 'The fight with Orochimaru took too much out of me.. I knew I should have worked the chakra balance of Chi Dengeki.. Looks like I only have enough left to weigh him down. If I plan on taking care of that damn curse seal of his as well that is.'

Snapping out of his thoughts, he noticed that Sasuke had begun to charge at him blade drawn and coursing with his own lightning chakra. He cursed himself for zoning out like that right in the middle of battle, shifting his weight to lessen the effect of the blow, though still taking the brunt of the attack. He managed to push another burst of chakra into the rough gravity seal on Sasuke's chest before jumping back, clutching his arm where he took the attack.

Sasuke felt the effect of Naruto's move instantly, his knees buckling slightly as he felt even heavier. He understood the careful positioning of the seal well enough to know that if he were to try to unlock the curse seal, the chakra would feed the gravity seal instead. He knew he had to finish this quickly or he would be taken down.

"You're a lot better than I thought you'd be dobe, I'll give you that much, but I can still take you down, even without the curse seal." He began to pant with the exertion of keeping himself upright, but made no other outer indication of his fatigue.

Naruto was flexing the hand of the arm that Sasuke cut, barely getting the feeling back. "I told you not to take me lightly any more. The only reason this isn't finished yet is that I don't want to kill you." He looked his rival in the eyes, flashing his fox grin. "One last charge. It's all I've got left and you're not much better off at this point."

Sasuke nodded coolly, saying nothing more. Suddenly the both of them charged, Naruto now with his blade drawn, and met, blades and eyes locked together. They pushed each other for a time, the steel of their blades grinding and sparking as each sought dominance over the other. Yet another stalemate. They broke the lock in the same instant and were off, moving quickly though both of their bodies were ready to give out from the stress of the battle.

All that the onlookers could see from that point on was the spark of steel against steel and the blurs that were the two combatants. The heavy thud and slap of hand to hand combat was heard as well, intermixed with the sound of their blades. Sakura, Sai, and Yamato watched in awed silence, witnessing what was surely a kage level fight, while Nenacu and Minato beamed proudly.

Naruto was beginning to become desperate. He was using far too much chakra, needing to save what little he had left for the trial ahead. Suddenly, he saw his chance. It's not often that one can trick the sharingan, and this wasn't even one of those times. Sasuke had made as if to run Naruto through, and the blonde knew he could take this chance. With a subtle shift, he let Sasuke's blade pierce through his abdomen, crying out in pain and triumph at the same time as he landed the last blow needed on the seal, causing Sasuke to collapse from the weight of his own body.

He yanked the blade from his body, knowing that he couldn't heal himself quite yet. He still had more to do, and nothing vital was hit. "Sakura! Come here, I need your help!" He fell to his knees beside Sasuke's prone body, reaching into his vest to pull out a curious black scroll, unrolling it on the ground.

Sakura rushed to her friend's side of course, seeing that Naruto was beginning to lose his consciousness from the combined effects of blood loss, chakra exhaustion, and Sasuke's lightning blade. She was about to begin healing him when he held his hand out for her to wait.

"Not me. Not yet... I have to get this seal off of him before I lose it..." He shook his head, blinking rapidly to stay alert. "You've seen me do the rasen-shuriken. The principle behind this is about the same." He created a rasengan holding that hand out to her. "Put as much healing chakra as you can into this, quickly."

She nodded and did as she was told, holding her hands over the swirling mass of golden chakra until it glowed a bright green. "Naruto.. What are you going to do with this?"

He didn't have the luxury of time, choosing to show her instead. "This is gonna hurt like a bitch Sasuke, but you'll be better for it." With that, her ripped the robe away from Sasuke's curse seal, plunging the attack into his shoulder. Instead of shredding the flesh there like it normally would, it seemed to just sink in, though by Sasuke's scream of pain, one could tell that it was both healing and ripping.

Shaking his head again, he began to lift the swirling mass out of Sasuke's shoulder, and, strangely enough, The emblem of the curse seal began to lift away with it until he pulled the thing off of his body completely. The seal broke it's form, turning the once green ball an inky black. Naruto grimaced at the offending thing before shoving it down against the black scroll. The rasengan sunk into the paper, turning the area where it disappeared into a larger, blood red version of the curse seal.

Grinning tiredly, the blonde collapsed next to Sasuke, leaving Sakura and the others to tend to his wounds.

* * *

Three days later.

Naruto awoke, bleary eyed and weak, though alert as he could be. He noticed the form of Sasuke laying beside him, still unconscious from the ordeal he had been put through. He tried to sit up, but winced in pain, remembering how he had been run through. 'Ah, that's right. Kyuubi has just about as much control over our new chakra as I do. Because of that, we used up almost all of what we had.'

"So you're finally awake. I thought you'd be out for another day or so." Sakura entered the room with a tired look on her face even as she was beaming at him. "You were really messed up you know. I don't think I've ever seen somebody live after so much internal damage. We could have waited another day after you finished Orochimaru off. Why didn't you tell us you were that injured?" As she spoke, her smile turned to an angry, sisterly glare.

"Aw, Sakura-chan, you don't need to get so angry with me over something like that. Besides, if we had waited, who knows if we would have found sleepy over there after I was done healing. No, it's my fault for not acclimating myself to this new chakra before the mission." He propped himself up slowly and carefully to avoid aggravating his wounds and gave her his signature grin. "Speaking of which, how is he doing? He shouldn't have been too bad off aside from muscle fatigue.

She bit her bottom lip at his question. "He actually has woken up a couple of times since then, but we're keeping him sedated. No telling what he might do if he woke up completely.."

He nodded in complete understanding, his face taking on a look of seriousness. "Sakura.. He still might not want to come back to Konoha, and now I'm not going to try to force him." He held a hand up to keep her from saying anything further as he spoke. "The seal messed with his mind, yes, but the underlying motive is still there. He wants Itachi, and he'll never stop until that's done. Whether he decides to do it with or without our help is up to him from here. I'm sure he'll come home when he's ready though."

Sasuke had been awake long enough to hear this exchange. Everything was glaringly clear to him now. Ever since that fateful day in the forest, his mind had begun to twist further away from his original goal. Sure, revenge on Itachi was important, but hadn't he also wanted to restore his clan? Where did selling his soul to a deranged snake come in there? No, it was obvious that, though the curse seal had given him great power, it had also chained him to Orochimaru's will. Even after his death. Too stubborn, still, to admit this, he drifted into the first night of restful sleep he'd had in years.

By the next day, Naruto was feeling well enough to walk around, his injuries healed both by Sakura's abilities and by his Kyuubi's work while he slept. Sasuke was awake and feeling up to talking to his former team mates.

"Sasuke.. Are you really alright? It's hard to believe that you've just changed.." Sakura was sitting with him, still in the cabin that Yamato had created with his wood jutsu.

"I wouldn't say I've changed that fast.. I want things to be like they were, but there's still Itachi. I know now that Naruto could, and would, help me if I asked. I know that you probably would too. However, I know people once in the service of Orochimaru that would join me. I may even be able to bring them back to Konoha once my mission is complete. I've already talked to Naruto about this. I'll be leaving early tomorrow morning to gather them and then hunt down Itachi. He understands my wishes."

Sakura nodded her understanding of his wishes. "You'd better come back home when you're done Sasuke. Otherwise, Naruto will most likely track you down again. I don't know if he would hold back on you next time either." She chuckled at his face after she said that. Sasuke still couldn't believe that Naruto had passed him by so much.

The blonde in question was currently sitting outside, his eyes closed in meditation, finally at peace with the world around him. One thing amused him though. He had taken a good look at his reflection in the local river, curious to see if the changes to his body had begun. What he saw had surprised him. His ears had become slightly pointed, his eyes were beginning to slit naturally, his whisker marks were wider, and on close inspection, his canines had begun to elongate. He was glad that he grew his hair out, it covered his ears, and the other features were only slightly noticeable at this point, though he wondered if he would have to eventually wear a mask much like his cyclopean sensei.

Nenacu made his way toward the young man, clearing his throat to catch his attention, and he got it, rousing Naruto from his thoughts. "Hey kid. Minato just hot a hold of me. It looks like the Sotaicho wants to meet you personally. Once we get back to Konoha, you've got about a day to get things set before we head to Seireitei, so you'd best let that pretty little Hyuuga girlfriend of yours know."

Naruto chuckled at his friend's attempt to provoke him. "And I think you ought to tell Miss. Yamanaka where you'll be off to. If you hadn't figured it out yet, that girl tends to get pretty clingy." He was rewarded by a visible shudder.

"Yeah, I kinda got that much by now. I knew she was the princess type, but I had no clue how much. Can't explain it to her though, not allowed. Anyway, apparently you'll be introduced to the captains. It seems that many of them are looking forward to meeting you. Seeing as you won't be able to attend the shinigami academy, you'll be taught in this world."

Naruto nodded to show his understanding when a question suddenly struck him. "Say, Nenacu.. I was wondering. Why, if you're a captain, aren't you stuck in your office?"

"'S because I don't usually work in Seireitei. My squad is assigned to living world duties. Usually basic patrols. You'll actually most likely join my squad when you're ready, seeing as you're still rather attached to the living world" He chuckled at his own joke, turning away. "Looks like we'll be on the move tomorrow."

Naruto nodded again, returning to his meditation once he was sure he wouldn't be interrupted again for a while. 'Oi, I know you both are listening in. It looks like we've got a lot of work ahead of us, so let's all do our best!'

As morning broke the next day, the light found the three members of the former team 7 standing at a crossroads. Two of them needed to return to the village, but the other was on a mission of his own.

"Sasuke, you'd better not get yourself killed before we can fight again." Naruto held a gloved hand out to his friend, who took it firmly before turning around.

"Give me a year you two. In one year, I'll return to Konoha."

With that, they parted ways, Naruto, Sakura, and the rest making their way to Konoha at a leisurely pace. A smirk grew on Sasuke's face. "You're still too trusting dobe, that much hasn't changed."

He set off to where yet another base of Orochimaru's was, intent on finding the first person to aid his cause.

The journey home was uneventful to say the most. The sun was high and hot the entire time, and they were traveling on open ground, forcing Naruto to remove his long coat to stay cool. To make matters worse, Minato was still gone, having other work to do in Seireitei, so he couldn't satisfy his thirst for more knowledge about the strange new world he was to experience.

In this way, they made it to the strong gates of Konoha, checking in with the guards before making their way towards the hokage tower. As usual, the villagers directed angry glares at Naruto, and with his newly enhanced hearing, he could make out what every one of them was saying. There were the normal whisperings about the demon child, and what they would like to do if they got him alone. Then there were new ones. Some about how he had abandoned the village and should have been hunted out and killed and others about how they would punish him if he hurt their precious Uchiha in any way. Apparently, their mission wasn't such a secret.

It didn't help that Naruto hadn't quite gotten the hang of hiding his altered appearance either. The changes had been gradual to the point that his teammates had only recently noticed a few days before reaching the gates. To the villagers who thought he was the demon personified, he must have confirmed their every suspicion.

'If only they really knew just how close they are to the truth, eh furball? Seeing as you and I are now actually the same.'

In his mind, Kyuubi grinned as best as a fox can. **"I'd refrain from telling that particular bit of information to anybody but those you trust and your future mates."**

'Yeah, that was about my line of... Wait, mates? Ero-kitsune, what kinda thoughts are you having? Whatever they are, keep 'em to yourself.'

The green haired girl giggle mirthfully at their exchange, sitting on top of Kyuubi who she had taken to referring as either Kyuu-chan or Fluffy. "I think Kyuu-chan is trying to tell you that he thinks you should start thinking about taking wives."

'Bah! What is it with you two today?'

This exchange ended when he realized that they were in Tsunade's office. What's more is that he noticed that she was looking at him strangely, and he was blushing brightly.

"Ah! Baa-san! What's up?" He went into his old habit of rubbing the back of his neck unconsciously.

"How many times to I have to tell you that I'm not old, brat?! You are supposed to report on the mission, so get started."

Naruto instantly snapped to attention and delivered his report, leaving anything having to do with his father out. He did, however, cover his fight with Orochimaru and the subsequent victory, his thoughts on Danzo's plot from what little they could coax Sai into telling them on the way, not that he wouldn't cooperate, but the training was hard to break, and finishing with his battle with Sasuke.

"Well, in the end, I guess it was best to let him go. I don't quite trust him yet though Hokage-sama. He's still too bent on revenge. The curse seal is gone, but I don't know if there will be any lingering effects to his sanity. I can safely assume, however, that he will come home eventually. I just don't quite know if it will be the way we wish.."

Tsunade nodded, a dark expression crossing her features, but passing as fast as it came. "You've done all you should have. We'll just have to let things fall where they may. Now, what about this training mission with Nenacu?"

"I'll be leaving tomorrow actually." He wished he could explain further, but he didn't know enough, and both Nenacu and Minato had advised against it. "If you don't mind, I'll be off. I have to get ready to head out, and I want to see some of my friends first"

With a wave of her hand, Tsunade dismissed the blonde who was quickly becoming even more of an enigma, smirking to herself. "He's always got to be doing something I don't know about. No use stopping him now." At that, she reached into one of the drawers of her desk, touching a seal that released one of the only bottles of sake Shizune had yet to find.

Naruto took to the streets of Konoha, rushing through crowds to the place he knew everybody would be. Ichiraku ramen. He smiled to himself, seeing his suspicions confirmed, and sidled into his usual place which Hinata 'just happened' to be sitting by.

"Hey guys, how's life?" He grinned as Techui placed his regular order in front of him. Being a customer for that long, it wasn't too surprising.

Everybody at the stand greeted him in their own way, each having heard the general outcome of the mission he'd just been on. Still, those who tended to regularly underestimate him, namely Kiba, felt the need to ask. "Rumor has it you took Orochimaru out by yourself. Any truth to that?"

The blonde paused in the middle of bringing a mouthful of noodles to his mouth and sighed. "Somehow, I knew it'd be you that asked that one Kiba. Yes, I did take him out by myself. As to how I did it.. Well.."

_Flashback no Jutsu!_

Naruto and Orochimaru had just broken from the pack, running at top speed through the forest beyond the bridge. Orochimaru was confident as always, planning just how he would lure the powerful blonde into a trap that would end with him gaining the almighty powers of the Kyuubi. 'Kukuku.. Once I have this kid's powers, I can just take Sasuke's eyes for my own. He has more than enough chakra to support the Sharingan indefinitely, and the Kyuubi's power will ensure that the transplant goes perfectly.'

Naruto, on the other hand, was following behind, his eyes cold and calculating as he listened to the conversation between the two voices in his mind. Orochimaru was getting careless, but that was probably a feint to lure him into action. 'Well, if it's an attack he wants, I'll just have to give him one.' Running through a quick plan, along with multiple contingencies, his fox grin replaced his grim smirk.

The blonde drew from the vast wellspring of chakra within as he flared his cloak out further, partly to trip up the snake in front of him, and partly to let his comrades know his position. It worked. Thinking that it was his chance to set his plan in motion, Orochimaru turned to see Naruto grinning at him. "Time to die Hebi-teme. I hope you won't make this too easy for me."

Naruto drew the extra chakra from his golden aura into his katana, splitting the chakra into wind and fire elements. What followed tapped into the one thing that frightened Orochimaru. It was as if Naruto had become the Angel of Death. His blade resembled an unbroken, red hot tongue of flame, and he had changed his aura to resemble a large pair of translucent, golden wings. The confident grin remained, but in his eyes, Orochimaru saw only righteous fury.

The blonde jumped, and the world slowed for the snake-nin. He watched, paralyzed with fear as the blade of flame came down on his right shoulder, cleanly separating his arm from his torso. Burning pain broke him from his stupor and he jumped back, reminding himself that the boy was a trickster by nature, and was merely playing to his fear for an edge. His foul smirk crept onto his face, and once again, he came climbing out of his own mouth, whole once more. Though his eyes widened when he realized that was not quite true. He couldn't control his arm properly. The blow Naruto had struck had burned out the nerves in his shoulder beyond what his technique could repair.

Naruto, unfased by Orochimaru's recovery, allowed his aura to resume it's usual form, knowing that such a ploy would only work once. "What next, Hebi? Your other arm? Or perhaps a leg this time." He didn't continue though, as Orochimaru managed to quickly summon several large snakes to use as a distraction. The blonde merely chuckled, mowing through the snakes before giving chase once more.

All was silent in the forest for many minutes. Orochimaru leapt from branch to branch with the stealth that only one who had trained their whole life could have. Then, it happened. He felt something pierce through his left shoulder, lodging in the joint. He couldn't get his right arm moving quick enough to tear it free before he heard his death sentence. **Hiden: Chi Dengeki no Jutsu!**

_Flashback no Jutsu, Kai!_

Kiba snorted as Naruto finished his story. "An angel? Honestly? Do you really expect us to believe that crap?" He was silenced immediately as every other person at Ichiraku's glared at him dangerously.

Hinata decided to chime in here. "Kiba-kun, when has Naruto ever lied about anything? If he said it happened, then it happened." She looked at Naruto with pride as he polished off his umpteenth bowl of ramen for this sitting, seemingly oblivious to Kiba's insult.

The blonde merely grinned as he dropped the money for everybody's meals, excluding Kiba, and turned to Hinata. "Ne, Hinata-chan, let's go for a walk. There's a few things I'd like to talk to you about." She nodded, and both stood, Hinata looping her arm around Naruto's, and fought back a blush as all of their friends teased them playfully about being together as they walked away.

Once they had gotten far enough away from the public ear, Naruto turned to Hinata. "Alright Hime, I know you've already figured out just who my family is, but please keep it under the hat for now. When I'm ready, I will make the announcement myself. That said, there's something I would ask of you." Hinata nodded, showing that she was following his words. "I'm going to be on a bit of a training mission. I don't quite know how long I'll be gone, but I won't be able to take my body with me, understand?" Again, a nod, but he could tell she was mildly confused at the direction of the conversation. "What I need is for somebody to watch over my body while I'm out. To avoid the scare that seeing my dead body would cause among those that actually care, and those who think that, should I die, the kyuubi would rampage again." Now she understood, but there was one more thing.

"Naruto-kun, wouldn't it be too dangerous to leave your body just anywhere? Even your apartment gets broken into regularly enough that it would probably happen while you were away."

Naruto nodded, flashing his smile. "Precisely. That's why I need you to hide me in the Hyuuga compound. Nobody would think to find me there of all places."

She squeaked in a fit of nervous happiness, her mind a flurry of thought. 'Would Tou-san approve? I just wouldn't tell him, that's easy enough.. But is there anywhere in the compound that only I...' "Oh, that's perfect!"

The blonde tilted his head to the side as she vocalized the last part of her thought process. "What's perfect Hime?" He found it amusing when her stutter, long since forgotten, returned with full force for the moment.

"W.. Well, t.. the only p.. place that nobody else ever goes is...," Her face flushed a deep red as she whispered the last part of her sentence so that it was barely audible if not for his enhanced sense of hearing. "m.. my room."

"Perfect. If nobody will find me, and you'll be able to watch over me, that's just fine. I still have a few other things I need to tie up around Konoha before I head out though, so I'll see you a bit before midnight." With that, and a quick peck on the lips, he was off to make it look like he was actually leaving the town.

True to his word, Naruto was tapping at her window just before midnight. How he knew exactly which room was hers, and how he had snuck past all of the Hyuuga guards was a mystery to her, but she was happy to see him all the same. He crawled through the window, followed shortly by Nenacu, already stripped of his false body.

"Well kid, say your goodbyes, and let's be on our way. Shotaicho is scary when people don't arrive exactly when they should." The older man was freeing his katana from the sheath, and looking around for something. Hinata wasn't quite sure what though.

Naruto produced the same strange red gloves that first separated him from his body and turned to Hinata. "Hime, put these on and hit me in the chest. Not too hard though." She nodded, and they shared one more kiss before his corporeal body fell to the floor with a meaty thud that made Naruto wince. "Don't think I'll ever quite get used to that.." He had to chuckle at Hinata's reaction to his more anamalistic spirit form. "Sorry Hime, I'll let you fulfill the need to pet the furry thing when I get back. For now, I've got to go." A strange black butterfly landed on his shoulder, having flown through a strange gate that Hinata could only assume Nenacu had opened. With a wave, he stepped through, the gate closed and vanished, leaving Hinata with one thought. She had a warm, life sized Naruto doll to cuddle in her sleep until he returned. She did just that.

* * *

Ha! Finally done with this chapter.. God that sucked that it took this long to yank it out of my brain. Hope you all enjoyed the fight against Orochimaru. Now you see why he was drained when he fought Sasuke, and because he isn't quite used to the new chakra, using it like he normally would use his weaker blue version puts strain on his system, thus the internal damage mentioned earlier.

I dunno if people are gonna question this, but an explanation for the warm, though lifeless, body of Naruto should be explained. He's not exactly dead when he leaves his body. His heart still beats, he still breaths. It's like being comatose, except that he uses so little energy that his body doesn't produce waist. If that's not how it works in Bleach, it's how it works in my fic.

Well, as always, I thank you for reading my story. I get better with constructive criticism, so let me know what you think. Hit that shiny button below and give me a review!

Next time, a meeting of the captains of Seireitei, and the introduction of Naruto and Ichigo. Don't you dare miss it! Till next time folks. Nenacu, signing off.

P.S. Please don't kill me for my chapter being so very very late.


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